PR 




Class rt\ S'iR2^ 

Book .Hi- 

CoijyiiglitN"_^ SS^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSnt 




THE WEAKER SEX. 



A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS. 



Acting Rights Reserved. 



No. 



THIS BOOK IS LEASED, AND NOT SOLD, and 
remains the property of WALTER H. BAKER & CO., 
to whom It is to be returned promptly upon the 
expiration of the contract under which it is loaned. 

Address, No. 23 WINTER ST.. BOSTON. MASS. 



t THE WEAKER SEX 

I 



f 



A COMEDY m THREE ACTS 



BY 

ARTHUR W<^1>INER0 



./ 



11 



All rights reserved imder the International Copy- 
right Act. Performance forbidden^ and right of 
representation reserved. Application for the right 
of performing the above piece must be made to the 
publishers. 



BOSTON 
■ 1894 S^')>^^''^ 



t 



71? ?i^^ 

THE FIRST ACT 

RIGHTS AND WRONGS 

At Mrs. Boijle-Cheivton's; Regent's Park. 

THE SECOND ACT 

THE LOVE THAT LIVES 

At Lord Gillingham's ; Kensington. 

THE THIRD ACT 

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER 

At Mrs. Boyle-Chewton's again. 




COPYRIGHT, 1894, BY A. W. PiNERO. 



All rights reserved. 



ll-3jUa 



THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY. 

Ira Lee. 

Lady Yivash. ^ 

Sylvia (her daughter). 

Dudley Silchester. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Khoda (her daughter). 

Mr. B ARGUS, M.P. 

Lord Gillingham. 

Lady Gillingham. 

Lady Liptrott. 

Hon. George Liptrott. 

Mr. Hawley Hill. 

Mrs. Hawley Hill. ^ 

Mr. Wade Green. 

Fetch (servant at Mrs. Boyle-Chewton's). 

Spencer (servant at Lord Gillingham' s). 



x^ 



INTRODUCTOEY NOTE 

Although "The Weaker Sex" was produced in London 
but a month before "The Profligate" first saw the light, 
and just a year after "Sweet Lavender," it really belongs 
to an earlier period of Mr. Pinero's work ; indeed, its 
composition may be said to date between " Lords and 
Commons" and the Court series of farces. It was this 
play, as I have stated elsewhere, that Mr. Pinero offered 
to Mr. John Clayton and Mr. Arthur Cecil when in the 
winter of 1884 they appealed to him in their sore need 
for a piece, their management of the Court being at that 
time in anything but a flourishing condition; and it was 
only Mr. Clayton's uncertainty about "The Weaker Sex" 
that led to Mr. Pinero offering "The Magistrate" in its 
place, a turn of events which proved most fortunate for 
the Court management. Meanwhile, "The Weaker Sex" 
was laid by for about four years, when Mr. and Mrs. 
Kendal secured the rights of the play, and produced it 
tentatively at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, on Septem- 
ber 28, 1888. The result was so encouraging that when, 
after their tour, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal arranged with Mrs. 



6 INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

John Wood to take the new Court Theatre for a season 
in the spring of 1889, they signalized their reappear- 
ance in town by the production of Mr. Pinero's comedy. 
It was on Saturday, March 16, 1889, that this play was 
first seen in London, but it must be noted that it was not 
presented here exactly as it had been in Manchester; for 
after the provincial trial Mr. Pinero abolished the con- 
ventional "happy ending" he had originally contrived, 
which was found to be unsatisfactory, and printed the 
play as it is now printed. 

The following is a copy of the " first night " programme 
at the Court Theatre, London: — 



i:fl 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

ROYAL COURT THEATRE. 

Under the Management of Mrs. John Wood. 



APPEARANCE OF MR. AND MRS. KENDAL. 
0:N SATURDAY, MARCH 16, AT 8.30, 

AND EVERY EVENING, 

Will be Performed an Original Modern Play in Three Acts, 
Entitled 

THE WEAKER SEX, 

BY 

A. W. PINERO. 



Lord Gillingham . . 
Hon. George Liptrott . 
Mr. Bargus, M. p. . . 
Captain Jessett . . . 
Dudley Silchester . . 

Ira Lee 

Mr. Hawley Hill . . 
Mr. Wade Green . . 
Spencer (servant at Lord 
Gillingham's) . . . 
Lady Gillingham . . 
Lady Liptrott . . . 
Lady Struddock . . . 



Mr. A. W. Denison. 

Mr. E. Allan Aynesworth. 

Mr. Edward Righton. 

Mr. A. B. Francis. 

Mr. W. H. Yernon. 

Mr. Kendal. 

Mr. W. Newall. 

Mr. Eric Lewis. 

Mr. H. Deane. 
Miss YlOLET Yanbrugh. 
Miss Patty Chapman. 
Miss E. Mathews. 



8 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



Lady Yivash .... 
Sylvia (her daughter) . 
Mrs. Hawley Hill . . 
Mrs. Boyle-Chewton . 
RnoDA (her daughter) 
Miss Cardelloe . . . 
Fetch (servant at Mrs. 
Boyle-Chewton's) . . 



Mrs. Keistdai.. 
Miss Annie Hughes, 
Miss Trevor Bishop. 
Miss Fanny Coleman. 
Miss Olga Brandon. 
Miss Blanche Ellice. 

Miss C. Lucie. 



ACT I. 

RIGHTS AND WRONGS. 
At Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^s, Hegenfs Park. 



ACT II. 
THE LOVE THAT LIVES. 

At Lord GiUmgham^Sj Kensington. 



ACT HI. 
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER. 

At Mrs. Boyle- Chewton^s again. 



The New Scenery by Mr. Thomas W. Hall. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 9 

The success achieved in London was fair, though not 
great, and after a satisfactory run of some weeks the play 
was withdrawn; but on their provincial tours Mr. and 
Mrs. Kendal have always found '' The Weaker Sex " 
received with marked favor, while in America they have 
played it continuously with very great success, and it 
still holds its own. 

Malcolm C. Salaman. 

Septemhei^ 1894. 



i^ 



THE WEAKER SEX 

THE FIEST ACT 

The scene is the lihrary in Mrs. Boyle-Chewtoi^'s 
house in Sussex Gardens, Regents Park, the 
windows opening on to the garden, and giving 
a view of the ornamental water beyond. The 
room is handsomely hut rather gloomily fur- 
nished, and hooks and newspaper's are scattered 
everywhere, the whole place ivearing a husy 
aspect. On one wall is a large printed poster^ 
as follows : — 

UNION OF INDEPENDENT WOMEN. 



A GREAT PUBLIC MEETING 
Under the auspices of the Union, will be held at the 

ST. SIMON^S HALL, PICCADILLY, 
On MONDAY, MAY 5th, 

Having for its Object a Demonstrative Assertion of 

the Rights of \yomen to share the Privileges 

and Penalties of the other Sex in 

all Spheres of Life. 

II 



12 THE WEAKER SEX 

The Chair will be taken at 8 o'clock by 

Mrs. E. BOYLE-CHEWTON, M.L.S.B. 

The following Speakers will address the Meeting : — 

Lady Yivash ; 

Miss Anna W. Perkyn, from Montreal; Mrs. McOstrich; 
Miss Awke; Mrs. Clymper-Boosby ; and 

Mr. Baegus, 

M.P. for Skipping-Molton, 

Who will take this opportunity to declare his 
adherence to 

A MIGHTY AND IRRESISTIBLE MOVEMENT, 

All are invited ! 

Women ! bring Decent, Rational Thinking Men. 

No Infants. 



THE WEAKER SEX 13 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, a woman of about forty, 
with a not itnpleasing face, hut a rigid person- 
ality, her hair worn straight and short, and her 
costume severe, dowdy, and ungainly, sits writ- 
ing at one end of a loriting-tahle ; while at the 
other her daughter Rhoda, a pretty girl of 
about nineteen, dressed in the same fashion, 
dozes with a pen in her hand, but hidden from 
her mother by the stationery cabinet, 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

\Talzing up the letter she has been writing and 
suro eying it critically, '\ I think I make myself 
understood. Listen, Ehoda. I have thought it 
expedient to adapt myself to this pugilistic per- 
son's phraseology. [Reading.'] " Mrs. E. Boyle- 
Chewton accepts the offer of Mr. Eobert Saunders 
of Endell Street, Bloomsbury, to supply her with 
four ^ chuckers-out ^ for the great meeting to-night 
at the St. Simon's Hall.'^ A chucker-out, my dear 
Ehoda, is Mr. Saunders's definition of a person 
who ejects disorderly characters. [Resuming.'] 
" Mrs. Boyle-Chewton does not think ' five shillings 
a nob ' at all exorbitant, but must decline the prof- 
fered services of Mrs. Eobert Saunders ; for while 
fully grasping Mr. Saunders's assurance that his 
wife is upon a physical equality with ' ten men and 
a boy,' Mrs. Boyle-Chewton doubts whether this 
particular branch of enterprise should be included 
in woman's furthest ambitions." Um — yes — 
that provides for any fractious opposition, I think. 
[Enclosing and addressing the letter.] Have you 



14 THE WEAKER SEX 

copied the plan of to-night's proceedings ? \lm- 
patiently.~\ Khoda ! [^Discovering that E/HOda is 
asleep.'] Good gracious ! Ehoda^ you're asleep. 

Ehoda. 
[ Waking with a start,'] Oh ! I — I must have 
closed my eyes. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
I am ashamed of you ! 

Ehoda. 

I beg your pardon, mamma. It is the heat, I 
think. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Heat ! It will be hotter at the meeting ! You've 
no enthusiasm ! 

Ehoda. 
I have been sitting since eight o'clock this morn- 
ing. I gobbled my breakfast. [Thumping her 
chest.] I can feel it here now. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I'm not surprised — you had four cutlets. I 
have been sitting upon two eggs. 

Ehoda. 
[ Giving Mrs. Boyle-Chewton a paper.] There, 
the plans are finished. 

Fetch, a middle-aged woman-servant, grim and 
shapeless J enters the room. 



THE WEAKER SEX 15 

Petch. 
Mr. Silchester ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
[^Impatiently, '\ Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! 

Dudley Silchester, a fashionably dressed 

handsome-bearded man of about forty, 

enters breezily, 

Dudley. 
[Kissing Mrs. Boyle-Chewton.] Good-morn- 
ing, Edith. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Good-morning, brother Dudley. 

Dudley. 
[Kissing Ehoda.] Well, Ehoda dear ? 

Ehoda. 
Well, Uncle Dud ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

[Giving letter and plan to Fetch.] That letter 
by cab to Endell Street. Lay the paper on the 
Committee Eoom table. [Fetch goes out, 

Dudley. 
[To Ehoda.] You look tired. 

Ehoda. 
Hushr 



1 6 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I dare say we all look tired, Dudley. You know 
what to-night is ? 

Dudley. 
I think — Monday night. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
[ Waving her hand towards the bilL~\ The night 
of our great meeting. 

Dudley. 

\_Looking at the hill.'] Oh, yes, of course, our 
great meeting. Sorry an old engagement to play 
whist at the club will prevent my — It suggests 
the circus. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

I call those names. 

Dudley. 
Yes — I dare say other people will call them 
names in the course of the evening. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
It will be a monster meeting. 

Dudley. 
What's that — meeting of monsters ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Dudley ! If you come to my house merely to — 



THE WEAKER SEX 17 

Dudley. 
Beg pardon, Edith. \_Prodiicing a letter.'] I 
dropped in to show you this. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 

[^Opening the letter, ~] Bhoda, your uncle is 
offered the appointment of Consul at Palermo ! 
What a Yery excellent thing ! Through whom ? 

Dudley. 
Lord Gillingham, I fancy. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
Ah, Lady Vivash, dear Mary, must have gained 
his influence for you. 

Rhoda. 
Oh, I'm so glad. Uncle Dud — and so sorry ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
£600 a year — that's more than your services 
are worth, Dudley. 

Dudley. 
Yes — or ever will be. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^. 
Why, you're surely not going to — 

Dudley. 
Accejjt it ? Certainly not. 



1 8 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Eefuse it ! When you've never done a real 
stroke of work in your life. 

Dudley. 
Never had anybody to work for. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

You've had yourself. 

DtTDLEY. 

Oh, everybody's had me at one time or another. 
I don't reckon myself. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

The epitaph of every wasted career. Why not 
go to Palermo ? 

Dudley. 
Can't get away just now. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
You've nothing to do in London. 

Dudley. 
That's it — if I had I should be glad to go to 
Palermo. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I know. I can read you like a book, brother 
Dudley. 



THE WEAKER SEX 19 

Dudley. 
Pm sure you can, sister Edith. The intelligent 
world has read me like a book at least for the last 
quarter of a century. It has read me, thumbed 
me, cut me, — ah, yes, cut me, — and made brutal 
marginal notes upon me, until I am the soiled, 
dog-eared volume so out of keeping with your 
immaculate library. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 
Ehoda, leave me with your uncle for a few 
moments. 

Ehoda. 



Yes, mamma. 



Dudley. 



Have mercy, Edith. \_To Ehoda.] Keep within 
earshot in case I shriek for assistance. 

[Ehoda goes out into the garden^ luliere for 
a ivhile she is seen at intervals walking 
to and fro readiiig.'] 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Dudley, you will decline to go to Palermo because 
you are still hankering after your old sweetheart. 
Lady Vivash. If I'm wrong say No. [Dudley 
reflects for a viojtient, smilingly looks at Mrs. 
Boyle-Chewton, and then tvithout a word drops 
into an arni-chair.'] Ah, I thought so! Dudley, 
of all the extravagant, hopeless passions man ever 
had for woman, your attachment to my old school- 
fellow and present colleague, Mary Vivash, is the 
most senseless my mind can grasp ! 



20 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
My dear Edith, a respectful affection, which 
commenced on my side for your schoolmate, Mary 
Norbury, as she then was, about twenty years ago, 
is hardly deserving of such severe stricture. It 
has at least the merit of antiquity; give it as 
much respect as you would afford an Anglo-Eoman 
tumulus or an ancient Greek coin. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
It began most absurdly. 

Dudley. 
It began by my bringing English toffee to the 
little pension at Bruges, where you were monitress, 
and Mary Norbury, a child of fifteen, was fourth 
scholar. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:?^. 
I thought it was ridiculous then I 

Dudley. 

You took your share of the toffee ; and, oh, what 
toffee ! Life has given me since nothing so sweet 
as that cooked sugar we portioned out twenty 
years ago on the side-paths of those old canals. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

And then, Dudley, after all — 

Dudley. 

All that toffee — tons of it. 



THE WEAKER SEX 21 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

After all — she refused you ! 

Dudley. 
Um — ^in favor of a brighter, better, cleverer 
fellow — my friend, Philip Lyster. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

And Philip Lyster she quarrelled with — marry- 
ing old Lord Vivash a month afterwards in a fit of 
mad rage. 

Dudley. 

He^s gone — thank goodness ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Yes: and she's had enough of marriage to last 
her a lifetime. 

Dudley. 
She hasn't told me that. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

My dear brother, even if she did think of marry- 
ing again, her mind would go back — to whom do 
you imagine ? 

Dudley. 

I thought perhaps to — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
To you ! Fiddlesticks ! To her only real love, 
Philip Lyster, whose heart she broke. 



22 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
Where is he ? In heaven, for aJl we know. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 

Nonsense, you men don't go there so surely. 
You see, my dear Dudley, you haven't a ghost of 
a chance. Besides, your conduct is cruel to me. 

Dudley. 
My dear Edith ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtoi^. 
You know what I have at heart, — ^the Advance- 
ment of Women from the Bear to the Van ! 

Dudley. 
\_Nervously putting on his gloves, ~\ Yes — I 
think, Edith, you've before explained — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Our recruit. Lady Vivash, supplies the impetus 
this great movement requires. She is now a 
strong, self-reliant, fine-minded creature, 

Dudley. 
She is. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chew ton. 
She is still young, brilliant, and enthusiastic — 

Dudley. 
That's true ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 23 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
With beauty and a title — which oughtn't to 
count, but it does ! ^ 

Dudley. 
I should think so. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Since she has thrown her soul in with us we 
have not only doubled our women supporters but 
we are securing fickle, fluctuating, flabby men! 

Dudley. 
Are you ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtojst. 

der'^mv roTf ""^''Z- '^' ^^' *^^'^ "P ^^^ ^bode un- 
You I\12\ ^""^ "^ ^ "''''^^^*y *° «^^ «a"««. to see 
a dilettante with a cracked china jar! — it must 
be most distracting to her, as it is ainoying to me 

Dudley. 

the^scent*if.l' ^"''^ ^'' T^^*' ^* '' '''^^^^^ •' only 
the scent of the roses or the smell of the ginger or 

jvi^atever was m it, will linger-dash if ! ft ^;ii; 

Lady Viyash, a beautiful tooman of about thirty 
five dressed with the^ r.ost rigid siipUeitylT 
wtthout any sacrifice of grace or dignity, 
enters quickly from the garden. 



24 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 
At what time is the committee, clear? [^Giving 
her hand pleasantly to Dudley.] How do you do, 
Mr. Silchester ? We are gloriously busy. You 
have come to scoff, of course. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Committee at one ; there's half an hour yet. 

Lady Viyash. 
Have any of our ladies arrived ? 

Dudley. 
I think so. 

Lady Vivash. 
Indeed ? 

Dudley. 
I saw some goloshes in the hall as I came in. 

Lady Vivash. 
/ wear goloshes in the damp Aveather. Perhaps 
they are mine. 

Dudley. 
Perhaps ; I didn't know at first whether they 
were goloshes. 

Lady Vivash. 
What did you take them for ? 

Dudley. 

Gondolas. 



THE WEAKER SEX 25 

Lady Viyash. 
Oil! {Writing busily. ~\ After all, the size of 
a woman's foot is quite immaterial. A woman 
doesn't carry her heart in her boots. 

Dudley. 

She does — if you say '' Boo ! '' in the dark. 

Lady Viyash. 

That's your opinion of women — not mine. 

Dudley. 
Because you're not a man. 

Lady Viyash. 
I wish I were for a month. 

Dudley. 
I dare say you do — a jolly month you'd have of 
it! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtok^. 
Dudley ! 

Dudley. 
What I mean, my dear Edith, is that a month 
would enable dear Lady Vivash to taste the sweets 
and not the bitters of manhood ; to wrench, as it 
were, the door-knocker of adolescence without pay- 
ing the forty shillings of maturity. I have been a 
grov/n man for twenty years out of my forty, and 
the result is that I wish sincerely — - 



26 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Viyash. 
You wish you had been born a woman ! 

Dudley. 
No ; a quadruped. A beast is short-lived. 

Petch enters, 

Petch. 
Mr. Bargus is in the Committee Koom. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n^. 

Oh, here's Mr. Bargus ! Dudley, how fortunate 
you are ! — you shall make his acquaintance. \To 
Petch.] Ask Mr. Bargus to come here. 

[Petch goes out, 
Dudley. 
Bargus ! Who's Bargus ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtois". 
You don't read your parliamentary reports, 
Dudley. 

Dudley. 
Never. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Mr. Bargus is the new member for the Skipping- 
Molton Division of Cuddleford. We have secured 
him. 

Dudley. 
Secured him ? Is he a very violent M.P. ? 



THE WEAKER SEX 27 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
He is young — as a politician, a mere infant. 
We have undertaken, as it were, to nurse him — 
to form his ideas. 

Dudley. 
Kind of political baby-farmers. 

Lady Vivash. 

As you please. We women need help in the 
House. 

Dudley. 
Wouldn^t a charwoman — 

Lady Viyash. 

In the House of Comm^ons. We want a lever to 
raise the mountain of prejudice. We looked about 
us, and our eye rested upon — upon — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
The member for the Skipping-Molton Division 
of Cuddleford. 

Khoda enters quickly, thinking Dudley is alone, 

Bhoda. 
Uncle Dud, here's that ridiculous little 
Bargus ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
Ehoda ! 

Ehoda. 
mamma! 



28 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 
Eidiculous Bargus ! To whom do you allude ? 

Ehoda. 
T am afraid I meant Mr. Bargus, mamma ; I — 
I have taken rather a — not a fancy to Mr. Bargus. 

[Fetch announces ^^Mr. Bargus.'' Bar- 
gus enters. He is a chuhhy little gentle- 
man of about forty ^ with a foolish face 
and a large development of forehead, and 
his fair hair worn in tight little curls all 
over his head, giving him the appearance 
of a middle-aged Cupid.~\ 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewt6n". 
My dear Mr. Bargus, your name was on our lips. 

Bargus. 

Very gratified. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
Are you armed for the fray to-night ? 

Bargus. 
I think so. I rehearsed my speech yesterday to 
an invalid cousin with most gratifying results. 
Good-morning, Lady Vivash. Good-morning, Miss 
Chewton. \_Catching Dudley's eye and bowing. ~\ 
An enthusiast, I hope ? 

Lady Vivash. 
Mr. Silchester — Mr. Clarence Bargus. 



THE WEAKER SEX 29 

Dudley. 
How d'ye do ? 

Bargus. 
How d'ye do ? 

Dudley. 
You're nervous about to-night — this big meet- 
ing, eh ? Funkey, just a little ? 

Bargus. 
It's an ordeal. A friend of mine, interested in 
women, had two reticules and a vinaigrette thrown 
at him last week, at Barnchester. 

\I)abhing his hrow with his handkerchief. 

Lady Viyash. 
\_To Dudley.] Great head, isn't it ? 

Dudley. 
Big head — one of the biggest I've ever seen. 

Lady Vivash. 
He's the son of Bargus, the large weaver. 

Dudley. 
Large weaver — that accounts for it. 

Lady Vivash. 

Of course he's timid and provincial at present, 
but he'll float. 



^ 



30 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 

That head ought to keep him up. Couldn't you 
get a more imposing chamjDion ? 

Lady Vivash. 

We have others who are — different looking. 
But Mr. Bargus is all our own. 

\Joins Mks. Boyle-Chewton and Bargus. 

Dudley. 
Oh, I don't want any. \_To Ehoda.] So you 
don't cotton to the political baby, Ehoda ? 

Ehoda. 

ISTo. You won't say anything if I tell you some- 
thing funny about him, will you. 

Dudley. 
Honor bright. 

Ehoda. 
Do you know, that when mamma and Lady Vi- 
vash are not looking, little Bargus — he — he — 

Dudley. 
Well ? 

Ehoda. 

He does his best to flirt with me. 

Dudley. 
Oh, the forward infant ! I should like to do my 
best to slap him. 



THE WEAKER SEX 31 

IvHODA. 

Oh^ no; don't. I hate little Bargus, but I'm 
wretchedly dull here ! Nobody ever comes to the 
house but gentlemanly women and zoological-look- 
ing men — even Bargus is a relief. 

Bakgus. 
\^To Lady Vivash and Mrs. Boyle-Chewton.] 
I have plunged into this great subject of Wom^n 
after anxious deliberation. I looked about me in 
the House^ and I saw every man metaphorically 
waving a banner. One member is for everything 
— another is against everything. One is for open- 
ing everything on a Sunday — another is for clos- 
ing everything always. I said to myself, ^- Bargus, 
what are you going to do to repay the confidence 
of 8,570 constituents of the Skipping-Molton Di- 
vision of Cuddleford ? " And in answer came the 
flapping of wings, and your voices, ladies, saying, 
'' Inscribe the word Woman upon your banner, and 
march forth ! " 

Mrs. BoYLE-CHfewTON". 
Mr. Bargus, are you going to say anything 
like that to-night ? 

Bargus. 
[_Dahhing his forehead, ~\ Well, that's a little bit 
but of what I am going to say to-night. 

Rhoda. 
\_To Dudley, pointing out of ioindoio.~\ Why, 
look at those Gibson girls out there, playing lawn 
tennis ! 



32 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
They have spotted noses. 

Ehoda. 
I know — but I envy them the frocks they wear, 
the partners that feed them with strawberries and 
cream, the dances, the theatres, everything ! They 
lead girls' lives ! 

Dudley. 
Tush ! Your turn will come. 

Ehoda. 

Will it! What about Lady Vivash's child, 

Sylvia, who is younger than I, and travelling in 

Italy with Lady Gillingham ? Italy ! Fancy ! 

^ Is her turn to come ? Without ever having seen 

' Sylvia Vivash, I detest her ! 

Dudley. 
Hush ! She's a mere child. 

Ehoda. 
Which I've never been ! I've always been a 
woman with rights ! Uncle Dudley, I've a big 
right — to be very, very miserable ! 

Fetch enters. 

Fetch. 
The committee's here, — Mrs. McOstrich, Mrs. 
Boosby, and Miss Awke. ^ ^ 



THE WEAKER SEX 33 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^. 
Thank you, Petch. Mr. Bargus, pray follow 
me. Lady Vivash, please ! Ehoda, bring the 
minute-book into the Committee Eoom. 

£Petch goes out, then Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
Khoda is following with an immense 
hook ivhich she has taken from the writ- 
ing-tahle, when Bargus stojps her,~\ 

Bargus. 
Miss Chewton — will you allow me ? 

\_Taking the book from her. 

Ehoda. 
Oh, thank you, Mr. Bargus ! 

Bargus. 
\_In an undertone.^ May I ask you if you are 
fond of flowers, Miss Chewton ? If so, I should 
much like — 

Ehoda. 
I'm very fond of them ; but mamma says wear- 
ing flowers is frivolous and unhealthy. 

Bargus. 
Oh, then. Miss Chewton, if to-night my speech 
happens to develop some trifling little oratorical 
blossoms, will you wear them in your memory, 
Miss Chewton? 



34 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
\Watcliing them.'] H^m ! Getting oyer that 
nervousness, Mr. Bargus ? 

Bargus. 

Fairly, sir, thank you. 

Dudley. 

Thought so. 

[Bargus goes out, followed by Ehoda. 

Lady Vivash, who has been looking 

into the garden, crosses to the door.] 

Lady Vivash. 
Good-by, Mr. Silchester. 

Dudley. 
Lady Vivash, will you spare me a moment ? 

Lady Vivash. 
You won't ask me for more, Avill you ? 

Dudley. 
\_Handing her the letter which Mrs. Eoyle- 
Chewton had read.] I think I have to thank 
you for that. 

Lady Vivash. 
\_Reading the letter.] Oh, the offer of the Con- 
sulship at Palermo. I am so glad. \_Retur7iing 
him the letter.] I did, indeed, suggest to Lord 



THE WEAKER SEX 35 

Gillingham that if he knew of anything that 
would — that would — 

Dudley. 

That would get an idle, troublesome old friend 
out of your way — 

Lady Vivash. 
I am sorry I have hurt you, Mr. Silchester. 

Dudley. 
You do want me to go, then ? 

Lady Vivash. 
I think it would be better for you. 

Dudley. 
I couldn't go — alone. 

Lady Vtyash. 
Isn't Griggs with you still ? 

Dudley. 

My servant ? Yes. But somehow when Griggs 
has brushed my coat and my hat, and played with 
my boot-trees for half an hour every morning, 
there's still a sense of loneliness in life. \_Slie 
turns aivay from him, leaning against the mantel- 
jjiece,'] Mary ! Mary ! 

Lady Vivash. 
[_After a pause."] Yes. 



36 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
Come with me to Palermo. 

Lady A^iyash. 

Thank you Yery much, but your sister Edith and 
I are so engrossed in our ^york here that we can't 
take a holiday just now. 

Dudley. 
It isn't a part of my suggestion that we should 
disturb Edith. 

Lady Viyash. 
I think I must go into the Committee Eoom. 

Dudley. 
\_Standing before her, clasping his hounds.'] Mary, 
do — do marry me. I have waited. I am your 
oldest friend — make me your newest love. Eor 
the sake of your little Sylvia, whom I will cherish 
as if she were my own, be my wife ! Eor your 
sake^ be my wife ! Eor my sake, be my wife ! 

Lady Vivash. 
I am very sorry, Dudley, but — I cannot. 

Dudley. 
Cannot give up this life you have chosen ? 
Mary, what a mistake — what a waste ! 

Lady Vivash. 
A mistake, perhaps. I may be too weak a 
woman, mind and body, to fight the great battle 



THE WEAKER SEX yj 

for my sisters. But a waste — no ! Why, if 
I dropped in the efCort to raise those who are 
slighted, ignored, misunderstood, the effort to put 
upon a conspicuous pillar intellects whose light 
would illumine the whole world, if I dropped in 
my struggle to do this, it would be a sacrifice — 
not a waste ! 

Dudley. 
A woman's only battles should be those of her 
husband, the intellects she should develop are 
those of her children. Ah, all you find in this 
new life is mere buzz and noise — f orgetfulness of 
the wretched years of your mistaken marriage. 

Lady ViYASH. 
Mr. Silchester ! 

Dudley. 

If the task you have undertaken is so fit and so 
noble, why isn't your daughter Sylvia by your side 
to share it ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Sylvia ! my dear little Sylvia ! 

Dudley. 
Why isn't she under your wing ? 

Lady Vivash. 
I think a young girl needs a different atmos- 
phere. I mean, Lady Gillingham was going to 
Italy, and offered to — I thought it best that Lady 
Gillingham should — Oh, Sylvia has no troubles to 
forget ! 



38 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
I am rights then ! 

Lady Viyash. 
And if you are — if what I am searching for is 
but a sort of intoxication^ an oblivion — how could 
you, with your reminder of the past, help me ? 

Dudley. 
By devoting myself to you — by loving away 
the memory of your misfortunes. 

Lady Vivash. 

\_After hiding her face for a moment,'] Dudley! 
\_He stands by her side ; she looks up to him and 
takes his hand.] Thank you, dear old friend. 
But — it is so impossible. 

Dudley. 
Don't you love me at all ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Yes, I do love you ; but dort't you guess that I 
can't forget — 

Dudley. 
Philip Lyster ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Philip Lyster. Ah, Dudley, — brother, if you 
will be that, — it is years ago, but I loved Philip 
so well ! Eighteen years ago, and, oh, the fresh- 
ness of it all to-day ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 39 

Dudley. 
You parted not friends. 

Lady Vivash. 
A boy-and-girl quarrel, with, the girl in the 
wrong. He was tender^ chivalrous^ sensitive ; I, 
wilful, capricious, cruel ! 

Dudley. 
He left England ? 

Lady Vivash. 
I heard so. And then came my sin. Heaven 
forgive me ! Marrying another to spite the man 
my temper had driven away from me. 

Dudley. 

You suffered ! 

Lady Vivash. 

I deserved it. Child as I was, I deserved it. 
But he, so beyond me ; why should I have ruined 
his life ? There, Dudley, is the misery that de- 
stroys my peace. The news of my marriage must 
have reached him in some foreign country. I can 
see it coming to him, without a word of warning, 
through some newspaper. I can hear his bitter 
cry of contempt for the girl he had loved. Some- 
times I think he must be dead, and I picture him 
dying, lonely, uncared for. And sometimes I think 
he lives on, old, broken, a misanthrope, the name 
of woman the only jest to draw a smile from him. 

\Slie turns away crying. 



40 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
Ah — so that's your answer, Mary. My old 
friend Philip still stands between you and me. 

Lady Vivash. 

Still — always — 

Enter Petch with a telegram, 

Petch. 
A telegram, please. 

[Dudley tahes it from the salver, 

Dudley. 

I beg your pardon — Lady Vivash. 

\_Giving the telegram to Lady Vivash. 
Petch goes out. Lady Vivash reads 

the telegram.~\ 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh! 

Dudley. 

Nothing wrong, I hope ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Wrong ? No ! \_Brushi7ig the tears from her eyes,"] 
Listen! Listen! It is from Victoria — you know 
— Lady Gillingham ! It says \_reading']j '' Our 
letters written to you at San Eemo just discovered 
at the bottom of a trunk — never posted — we are 
home — shall come on to you ! '^ Dudley, my Syl- 



THE WEAKER SEX 41 

via, my little girl, is in London, and I didn't know ! 
[^Excitedly.'] Advise me. What shall I do ? Shall 
I go to Lady Gillingham's ? I may miss them — 
they may not be there. I want to see Sylvia so 
badly ! \_Stamping her foot,~\ Dudley, you don't 
tell me what to do. 

Dudley. 
\_Shaking his head.'] you strong-minded 
woman ! 

Lady Vivash. 
I'm not ! I mean, I haven't seen her for so long. 

Dudley. 
They're sure to be here almost directly. 

Lady Vivash. 
What am I to do till almost directly ? 

Dudley. 
There's the committee down-stairs. 

Lady Vivash. 

\_Impatiently,'] Oh ! 

Dudley. 
And your speech to prepare for to-night. 

Lady Vivash. 
I can't think of anything now but Sylvia ! 



42 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
No; and it is from this material that we are to 
mould our cabinet ministers of the future ! 

The door opens, and Mks. Boyle-Chewton", 
Mr, Bargus and Ehoda ente7\ 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^. 
My dear Mary^ you are forgetting the business 
of to-day entirely. 

Lady Viyash. 

IVe had a telegram from Lady Gillingham. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton-. 
Lideed! The committee think it advisable — 

Lady Viyash. 
Lady Gillingham and Sylvia are in London ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton-. 
Very sudden. The committee think that you 
and Mr. Bargus — 

Lady Viyash. 
They have been found at the bottom of a trunk. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Lady Gillingham and Sylvia! 

Lady Viyash. 

No, no ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 43 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^. 
Then ivlio has been found at the bottom of a 
trunk ? 

Lady Vivash. 
Their letters — advising me of their return home. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:^-. 

How careless ! The committee — 

Lady Vivash. 

Never posted — fancy ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
My dear Mary ! 

Lady Vivash. 
{Handing Mrs. Boyle-Chewton the telegram.'\ 
There it is. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
[^Taking the telegram without reading it,^ Thank 
you. The committee have expressed an opinion — 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh^ do read the telegram ! [Mrs. Boyle- 
Chewto:n" reads the telegram. To Ehoda.] 
You'll be friends with my Sylvia, won't you ? 
Her pet name is Gossamer — she is so light and 
bright and merry. 

Ehoda. 
\_Thoughtfidly.'] Bright and merry ! 



44 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I never heard of such negligence. [^Returning 
the telegram.~\ Women like Lady Gillingham are 
our stumbling-blocks. Oh, for more concrete 
minds ! Mr. Bargus, will you explain to Lady 
Vivash ? 

Bargus. 

The committee suggest that we compare the 
salient features of our speeches, Lady Vivash, to 
avoid a collision of ideas. I shall be delighted — 

Lady Vivash. 
[^Absently, as she re-veads the telegram.'\ Quite 
so — yes — certainly. 

Bargus. 
Shall I rapidly float over the surface of my in- 
tentions, or will you ? 

Lady Vivash. 
You — you first, please. 

Bargus. 
Thank you. \_Producing a roll of paper. "] The 
question is in a nutshell. The position of woman 
is a social anomaly. 

Lady Vivash. 
Two women wouldn't travel all night from Paris 
to London, would they ? Oh, I beg your pardon ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 45 

Bargus. 
Quite so. I ask — of what is woman capable ? 

Lady Vivash. 

^Fonderingr)^ Sleeping at Dover — rising early 
— and catching the first train to town — that's 
what they Ve done ! 

Bargus. 

Pardon me, Lady Viyash, I don't see — 

Lady Yivash. 

No — of course — I haven't shown it to you, 
have I ? \_Handing him the telegrain,~\ Lady Gil- 
lingham's telegram. 

Bargxjs. 

But this doesn't say anything about the meeting ! 

Lady Vivash. 
You don't read it — we shall meet here. 

Bargus. 
But the Union of Independent Women ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Oh, don't bother about that ! 

Enter Fetch. 

Fetch. 
Lady Gillingham and Miss Vivash ! 



46 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Viyash. 

Sylvia ! Sylvia ! 

[Bakgus retires in astonishment, Sylvia, 
a ])Tetty^ simple, fair-haired girl, about 
seventeen, dressed very lightly and taste- 
fully, runs on, and is clasped in Lady 
Vivash's arms ; Lady Gilltngham, a 
handsoviely dressed woman of thirty -three 
or thereabouts, tuith an elegant carriage 
and pleasing manner, following, Petch 
goes out.'] 

Lady Viyash. 

My dear little gossamer ! Oh ! how pretty you 
look ! My sweet ! [Kissing Lady Gillingham.] 
Victoria, uear, how are you ? What a surprise you 
give me ! Lady Gillingham, Sylvia — you have 
met Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, haven't you ? You both 
know Mr. Silchester. Ehoda, this is Sylvia. 

\_The two girls look at each other ivith curiosity, 

Sylvia. 
\_Futting out her hand shyly.] How do you do ? 
[Rhoda takes her hand, and then turns to Dudley. 

Ehoda. 
\_To Dudley.] What luck some girls have, 
Uncle Dud ! 

Sylvia. 
\_To Lady Viyash.] Mamma, how strange you 
all look ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 47 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
\_With a heave of resignation. ~\ I tliink / had 
better hear Mr. Bargus's plans for to-night. I 
fancy some of ns are not sufficiently sympathetic 
toAvards Mr. Bargus. \_To Bargus.] Will you 
walk into the garden ? That will enable Lady 
Vivash to chat over lighter matters with Lady 
Gillingham. 

[Mrs. Boyle-Chewtoit and Bargus go out 
through the window, and are seen at 
intervals walking up and down and 
conversing earnestly. ~\ 

Lady Gillingham. 
\_Quietly to Lady Viyash.] Send Sylvia away ; 
I want to speak to you. ■' 

Lady Yivash. 
Is anything wrong ? 

Lady Gillingham. 
I hope you won't think so. 

Lady Vivash. 
Ehoda^ will you show Sylvia the garden ? 

[Rhoda and Sylvia go towards the ivindow. 

Sylvia. 

\_Catching sight of the printed hill.'] Oh, what's 
that ? Is mamma going to sing at a concert ? 



48 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady A^ivash. 
[ Stamping her foot. ~\ Oh! 

Dudley. 
[T(9 Lady Viyash.] I'll explain — nicely. 

\_He folloius Ehoda and Sylyia out into the 
garden,~\ 

Lady Gillixgham. 
My dear Mary, I am afraid you will be Yery 
angry with. me. 

Lady Yiyash. 
What has happened ? 

Lady Gillixgha3i. 
Something very dreadful, or Yery pleasant — 
just as you take it. 

Lady Viyash. 

Victoria ! 

Lady Gillixgham. 

You intrusted dear little Gossamer to my 
charge, and I need not tell you that I have tried 
to do my duty. 

Lady Viyash. 

Yes, yes, yes ! ■ 

Lady Gillixgham. 
You know, dear, they say Love laughs at lock- 
smiths ; that he may do, but he certainly ignores 
chaperons. 



THE WEAKER SEX 49 

Lady Vivash. 

Love ! What do you mean ? 

Lady Gillingham. 
I knew yon. would be angry ; but it is not my 
fault. Gossamer is in love^ dear — there ! 

Lady Vivash. 

Gossamer in love ! Gossamer in love ! And of 
course somebody is in love with her ? 

Lady GiLLi:^rGHAM. 

Oh, yes^ dear, of course — that happened first. 

Lady Vivash. 

Who — who is it ? 

Lady Gillingham. 

There, Mary, you've upset me with your first 
question. Who is it ? I suppose from an old- 
fashioned point of view I ought to say, Nobody. 
But Lord Gillingham says that nowadays every- 
body with a coat and waistcoat is somebody, espe- 
cially if he be an American, and this gentleman is 
an American. 

Lady Vivash. 

An American ? 

Lady Gillijs"gha'm. 
Yes ; from Vermont. But he doesn't of course 
whittle a stick or do those amusing things we read 
about. Have you ever heard of L^a Lee, the 
American poet ? 



so THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 
I don't know — I dare say — I can't remember. 

Lady Gillikgham. 

Get him from Mndie's, Mary, at once. Gos- 
samer's lover is Ira Lee. We mefc him in Florence, 
at Mrs. Rocksavage's. Of course lie was smitten 
with Sylvia ; every one has been, from a Charing- 
Cross porter to the Pope. ■ 

Lady Yiyash. 
But she — she ? 

Lady Gillin^gham. 

She was only interested at first, till she read his 
poetry, and then — well, get him from Mudie's. I 
heard a portion of his history — quite romantic. 
Some time ago he banished himself out West into 
the Colorado Mountains, leading a sort of camp- 
life with some horribly rough, outcast people — 
fancy, Mary ! A thing I couldn't do ! Then he 
wrote plaintive verses about the wrongs of the 
Indians, and their loves, until an enterprising per- 
son came along and bought his poetry, or borrowed 
it, — I forget Avhich, — and published it in Xew 
York. And there they christened him the Poet 
of the Prairies. And now he's rich, and I suppose 
has had enough of the Indians, who are a very un- 
tidy race, and he is seeing Europe. There, Mary ; 
what do you think of it all ? 

[Bakgus is seen reliearsing his speech to 
Mrs. Boyle-Chewton outside the win- 
dota.^ 



THE WEAKER SEX 51 

Lady Viyash. 
Tell me — tell me what you have done ! 

Lady Gilliistgham. 
Well, dear, I have done what I consider the 
very wisest thing — I have done nothing. Mr. 
Lee gave me to understand that he admired Sylvia 

— she gave me to understand that she loved Mr. 
Lee. I said ^^Very well, then, we'll go home.'^ 

Lady Viyash. 
And he ? 

Lady Gillinoham. 
He said, "^^Do — and Til follow you.^^ 

Lady Viyash. 

Oh, what shall I do ? 

Lady Gillingham. 

See him, dear. 

Lady Viyash. 

See him ! 

Lady Gilliistgham. 
He's most anxious to do everything in forma 

— what is it ? Not joaupei^is — proprietas ; in 
forma proprietas. See him, and accept him or re- 
ject him. 

[Sylvia, Ehoda, and Dudley appear out- 
side the vjindow.'] 



52 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 

Eeject him — yes. But Sylvia ? 

Lady Gillixgham. 

Why, at the worst, it is only a child's first love 
— nothing more. 

Lady Vivash. 

It need be nothing more. Ah, I know what the 
child^s first love means to the grgwn woman ! 

Sylvia re-enters the room, 

Sylvia. 

Mamma, won't you — \_She stops suddenly, 
looking into Lady Vivash's face.'] Lady Gilling- 
ham has been speaking to you about me ! 

Lady Vivash. 

Yes, dear. 

Sylvia. 
I — I am so sorry, mamma. 

Lady Vivash. 
Sorry ? 

Sylvia. 

So sorry that — that Mr. Lee cannot get to Lon- 
don until Wednesday. 

[Lady Gillixgham goes to Ehoda and 
Dudley, outside in the garden.] 



THE WEAKER SEX 53 

Lady Vivash. 
\I)rawing Sylvia to her and stroking her head.~\ 
Do you really love him^ Gossamer ? 

Sylvia. 
I think I do — really. 

Lady Vivash. 
And if I told you that it is impossible, absurd — 
that a child's first foolish fancy is to be checked, 
laughed at, and forgotten — what then ? 

Sylvia. 
Then I should know you were not in earnest. 

Lady Vivash. 

Not in earnest ? 

Sylvia. 

ISTo. Mamma, do you remember, once when you 
were in bitter trouble, taking me upon your lap and 
telling me of your first love ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Gossamer — yes ! 

Sylvia. 

Of some one who came to Bruges, painting, just 
before you left your school — some friend of Mr. 
Silchester's ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Yes. 



54 THE WEAKER SEX 

Sylvia. 
He followed you to London — you loved him, 
mamma dear ; you told me so ! 

Lady Vivash. 
\In a ivhisper, tremhling.~\ Ah, yes ! 

Sylvia. 
But one day in a fit of jealousy you sent him 
away from you, and 3^ou never saw him again. 

Lady Vivash. 

Never again ! 

Sylvia. 

But '' Sylvia/' you said to me, '' a woman's first 
love is her religion ; if its object be worthy it will 
sanctify her whole life." And, mamma, that is why 
I know you will let me go on loving Mr. Lee. 

Lady Vivash. 
[ With a cry of tenderness^ pressing Sylvia to 
her.'] My darling ! my darling ! 

Fetch enters with a small bundle of letters upon 
a salver. 

Fetch. 

Lady Gillingham's carriage ! 

Lady Gillingham. 

\_Re-entering the room.] Oh, how time flies ! 
Mary, I must catch the two o'clock train to Ket- 



THE WEAKER SEX 55 

terby. I have promised to fetch Lord Gillingham 
up to town. 

Petch. 
\_Givinfj letters to Dudley, who has come into 
the roovi,^ Your servant has just brought these 
letters, sir, in case you might not return home till 
late. 

Dudley. 
Thank you. 

[Fetch goes out as Bargus comes in, fol- 
loiued by Mrs Boyle-Chewton.] 

Lady Gillixgham. 
\_To Lady VivASH.] Do let me take Sylvia with 
me to Ketterby ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh, no, no ! We have been so long parted. 

Lady Gillingham. 
My dear Mary, w^e shall return to town on Wed- 
nesday — the day after to-morrow. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
In TTiy opinion, on the eve of our great meeting 
even the society of her daughter is a most danger- 
ous distraction to Lady Vivash. 

Lady GiLLK>rGHAM. 
I think so too, and IVe a delicious plan in my 
head. On Wednesday night Lord Gillingham and 
I have some friends and some music at Kensington 



56 THE WEAKER SEX 

— all sorts of dear, nice people : you will come, of 
course, Mary ? 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 
Um — on Wednesday night loe have a Financial 
Committee. 

Lady Gilltxgham. 
And if dear Mrs. Boyle-Chewton will dispense 
with ceremony and bring her daughter — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
H'm ! I shall be glad to carry my opinions and 
convictions into alien circles. Thank you, Lady 
Gillingham. 

Lady Gillijs^gham. 
\To Dudley.] Mr. Silchester, I depend on you 
too, and — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton-. 
\IntToducmg Mr. Bargus.] Lady Gillingham 

— my friend and associate, Sir. Clarence Bargus, 
Member for the Skipping-Molton Division of Cud- 
dleford. 

Lady Gillingham. 
And perhaps Mr. Bargus — 

, Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Mr. Bargus will be very happy. 

Bargus. 

\Nevvoiisly.~\ Very happy — delighted! [To 
himself^ with an eye on Lady Gillingham.] Ex- 



THE WEAKER SEX 57 

ceedingly pretty woman. \_Checking himself, ~\ 
Ahem ! tush ! 

Lady Gillingham. 
I'll send cards to jou all to-night. \_Qitietly 
to Lady Vivas h.] Maiy^ Mr. Ira Lee will be 
there ; he reaches London on Wednesday morning. 
Don't you see my scheme? You will be able to 
survey him before he makes his first advances. 

Fetch re-enters, 

Petch. 

Lady Gillingham's coachman says he can only 
just get to the station in time. 

Lady Gillingham. 

Oh, dear ! my husband hasn't seen me for four 
months — he'll think it so odd if I miss the train. 
\_Kissing Lady Vivash.] Good-by, Mary. I 
may have Sylvia, may I not ? [Lady Vivash 
embraces Sylvia passionately. ~\ Good-by, every- 
body — till Wednesday. Good-by ! Good-by ! 
Good-by ! Sylvia ! 

\_Going to the door, Sylvia running after her. 

Lady Vivash. 
Sylvia ! [Sylvia returns to Lady Vivash, who 
embraces her again.'] Gossamer, you won't forget 
me — your mother — will you ? 

Sylvia. 
mamma dear ! 



58 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Gillijstgham. 
\_Impatiently.~\ Oh^dear! Oh, dear ! 

Sylvia. 
[Going. ^ Good-by! Good-by! Good-by ! 

[Lady Gillingham and Sylvia go out, 
followed hy Fetch. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
And now, if Lady Vivash's mind is quite clear, 
Mr. Bargus will resume. 

Bargus. 

\_Oratorically.'\ The question is in a nutshell. 
Of what is woman capable ? Woman is — 

Dudley. 
\^Who has been opening and reading his letters.'] 
Good heavens! [To Bargus.] I beg your par- 
don — allow me, one moment! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Eeally, Dudley ! 

Dudley. 
[Softly, to Lady Vivash, who has dropped thought- 
fully into a chair. ~\ Lady Vivash — Mary! Lm a 
poor unlucky devil, but Pm not so wrapped up in 
myself that I can't feel glad at bringing you this 
good news. 

Lady Vivash. 
Good news ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 59 

Dudley. 

Strange news ! Philip Lyster is living. 

Lady Vivash. 

Living ! 

Dudley. 

And in England — or will be almost directly. 
[^Handing lier a letter, '\ Look ! 

Lady Vivash. 
\With a gasj^r^ Philip^s — writing! 

Dudley. 
Read it. 

Lady Vivash. 

\_Trying to read the letter.'] I can^t — I can't — 
make it out. Tell me what he says. 

\^She returns the letter, Dudley stands hy 
her side ; she sits staring f or ivard eagerly. 

Dudley. 

It is written from Paris, yesterday. \_Reading.] 
'' My dear Dudley. The dead returned to life ! I 
have come into your world again — changed — an- 
- other man — but still your friend as of old, if you 
will have it so. I don't quite know the hour of 
my reaching England, but I do know that I am to 
burst upon London society next Wednesday night 
at a party at Lord Gillingham's'^ — 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh! 



6o THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 

\_Resiiming.'\ ^^Come to me at Stark's Hotel at 
latest the day following. — Philip Lyster.'' 

Lady Vivash. 
At Lord Gillingliam's ? 

Dudley. 
Lady Gillingliani didn't mention — 

Lady Vivash. 
She doesn't know that Philip and I were ever 
acquainted. Philip ! Come back ! 

Dudley. 
Come back — yes. I think, Mary, I shall go to 
Palermo after all. \_To Bakgus.] I beg your 
pardon. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 
Now, Mr. Bargus. 

Bargus. 
The question is in a nutshell. Of what is woman 
capable ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Mary, pray listen ! 

Bargus. 
Is this superficial sentiment, which is so popular, 
called love, to be the only — 



THE WEAKER SEX 6i 

Lady Viyash. 
Come back ! come back ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Mary ! 

Lady Viyash. 
I — I can't remain. I — I am going out ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Going out ! 

Lady Viyash. 
To Madame Lisette's. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

To Madame Lisette. Not the dressmaker ! 

Lady Viyash. 
Yes. I — I must look something like my old 
self on AVednesday night ! 

\_She rushes out. They look after her in 
consternation.'] 



end of the first act. 



THE SECOND ACT 

The scene is a richly appointed ante-room at Lord 
Gillingham's, with a large opening leading 
to the draiving-roomsj and shoiving a distant 
conservatory with a fountain playing. On the 
right is a recess furnished with settees, palnis^ 
and candelabra^ over the entrance to which is a 
curtain fastened hack. On the left are large 
French windoius opening into the garden^ which 
is bright with moonlight. 

There is the sound of nfiiisic in the distance, Mr. 
Wade Green is sitting in the corner ivith his 
eyes closed. He is a young man, ivith iveak 
eyes, spectacles, and little perky ichiskers, 
Whe7i nobody is looking at him his countenance 
is most melancholy, but directly he is observed 
he assumes a facetious expression. Lady Lip- 
TROTT, a tall, gaunt, withered woman, with' a 
deep, gruff voice and black ringlets, dixssed 
showily, but in execrable taste, and the Hon. 
George Liptrott, her son, an insijnd, ultra- 
modern young gentleman, stroll in from the 
garden, 

62 



^ 



George. 
Yes, ma ? 



THE WEAKER SEX 63 

Lady Liptrott. 
George. 



Lady Liptrott. 

We'll sit about in the music-room for half an 
hour, and then go on to the Beauchamps'. The 
Gillinghams' entertainments are always so insuffer- 
ably tiresome. 

George. 

Yes, it's awfully slow, ma. [Green, hearing 
voices^ rises, yawns wearily, shakes himself, and 
emerges from the corner with his most humorous 
expression,~\ H'are yah ?- 

Green. 
H'are yah ? [Green loiters away. 

Lady Liptrott. 
\_To George.] I know that man's face — who 
is he? 

George. 
Why, ma, that's Wade Green, the man who's so 
awfully entertaining at the piano with those fright- 
fully amusing songs — don't you know ? When 
he' sings it's as much as people can do to keep from 
laughing. [To Greek.] H'are yah ? 

Green. 
\_Stifling a yawn and turning briskly, ~\ You 
quite well ? 



64 THE WEAKER SEX 

George. 
Thanks. You going to sing ? 

Green. 
. Um. A little thing of last season's. 

George. 
Haw ? Then do you go on to the Beauchamps' 
by any chance ? 

Green". 
I shall pop in. 

George. 
Will you sing thah ? 

Green. 

Ye-es. A little thing I used to do years ago. 

George. 
Haw ! Were you at Mrs. Phillamore's this 
afternoon ? 

Green. 
Yes. Very enjoyable. 

George. 
Did you sing thah ? 

Green. 
Oh, a little thing they always ask for; one of 
my old little things. 



THE WEAKER SEX 65 

George. 
Haw ! It will be awful fun when you do some- 
thing new^ won't it ? 

\_As Green" walks aivay he meets Lord 
GiLLiNOHAM entering^ a handsome old 
gentleman, slightly deaf.~\ 

Lord Gillingham. 
Ah, Mr. Green, they miss you very much in 
there. 

Green. 
[^Raising his voice.^ Just going in — just going 
in. 

\^He still loiters ahoict with his hands in his 
pockets.'] 

Lord Gillingham. 
\_Seeing Lady Liptrott.J You're not going, 
are you? Lady Gillingham has been looking for 
you. There's some music in there. 

Lady Liptrott. 
\_Raising her voice.'] What a charming night ! 

Lord Gillingham. 
Outside ? 

Lady Liptrott. 
Here. 

Lord Gillingham. 
\^Coiirteously.] So glad. 



66 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Liptrott. 
\To GrEORGE.] Tliat man is breaking up. 

George. 

Eapidly. 

Lord Gillingham. 
Ah^ George ! 

George. 
\Raisincj his voice.'] Delighted you're looking 
so much bettah. 

[Lord Gillingham smiles and nods, hut as 
Lady Liptrott and George go out he 
gapes wearily ; Greex, who is saunter- 
ing about aimlessly, does the same ; they 
turn, and surprise each other at it.] 

Green. 

\_Rather embarrassed, resumiiig his comic manner. 
Hah ! um ! Yes — I'm — I'm just going in — just 
going in. [^He disappears quickly. 

A servant enters. 

Servant. 
\_Announcing .] Mr. and Mrs. Hawley Hill. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hawley Hill, a stout couple, enter, 

but Lord Gillingham has his back to them, 

and does not notice them. 

Hawley Hill. 
We can't give them long, Adelaide. 



THE WEAKER SEX 67 

Mrs. Hawley Hill. 

Isn't that Lord Gillingham ? \_They approach. 

Lord Gillingham. 
[^Smiling pleasantly. ~\ You are not going, are 
you ? Lady Gillingham has been looking for you. 
There's some music in there. 

Mrs. Hawley Hill. 

\_Baising her voice.~] Just come. 

Lord Gillingham. 
Eh? 

Mrs. Hawley Hill. 

We've just come. 

Lord Gillingham. 
Oh, how d'ye do ? How d'ye do ? Let us find 
my wife. 

\_IIe takes them towards the drawing-rooms. 

Servant. 
[^Announcing.'] Mr. Silchester. 

Enter Dudley Silchester. 

Lord Gillingham. 
[To the Hills.] Ah, there she is ! 

Mr. and Mrs. Hawley Hill. 
My dear Lady Gillingham — [They go out. 



68 THE WEAKER SEX 

LOKD GiLLINGHAM. 

[^Seeing Dudley.] You're not going, are you? 
Lady Gillingham has been looking for you ; there's 
some music in there. 

Dudley. 

Just come ! How are you ? 

Lord Gillingham. 
Ah ! How are you ? Mr. Silchester, isn't it ? 

Dudley. 
How's Lady Gillingham ? 

Lord Gillingham. 
Very well. She's better than I am at a party 
— I get dazed. Lady Gillingham is a wonderful 
woman. I was born too long ago for her. That's 
my great fault. 

Dudley. 
\_Sympatheticallij,'] Ah! 

Lord Gillingham. 
Yes. {_They stand side hy side on the hearth-rug. 

Dudley. 
Fine May ! 

Lord Gillingham. 

Very. Very fine May. 

Dudley. 

One of the finest Mays I remember. 



THE WEAKER SEX 69 

Lord Gillingham. 
English Mays. 

Dudley. 
I mean English Mays. 

Lord Gillingham. 
May is a fine month abroad. 

Dudley. 

Yes — sometimes. 

Lord Gillingham. 

Ah^ I mean sometimes. 

\They turn their heads from each other and gape, 

Dudley. 
Is Lyster here ? 

Lord Gillingham. 
What Lyster is that ? 

Dudley. 
Philip Lyster — Gerald L^^ster's son. Went 
away suddenly years and years ago. 

Lord Gillingham. 
Don't know him. 

Dudley. 
He wrote to tell me he'd be here to-night. 



70 THE WEAKER SEX 

LOKD GiLLINGHAM. 

Oh, very likely, very likely ! There are a great 
many people here I don't know. A friend of my 
wife's, perhaps. Come along. 

[Lady Gillixgham, richly dressed^ anters. 

Lady Gilltxgham. 
\_Shaking hands with Dudley.] How do you 
do ? So pleased ! \_Surprising Lokd Gilling- 
HAM in the middle of a gape.'] Theodore! people 
are looking for you. You're horrid. \_To Dud- 
ley.] He leaves everything to me. 

Dudley. 
I wish he'd leave something to me. I mean I 
wish I might assist you. [To himself,] Con- 
found it ! what a stupid thing to say ! 

[Sylvia enters with the Hox. George Lip- 
TROTT. She is dressed simply hut charm- 
ingly in white ; she greets Dudley, then 
st7'olls with George to the 7'ecess,] 

George. 
Haw ! do you ever go to Lord's ? 

Sylvia. 

Lord's Cricket Ground ? Oh, yes. 

George. 
Eton and Harrow ? 

Sylvia. 
Yes. 



THE WEAKER SEX 71 

George. 
Were you thah the yeah before last ? 

Sylvia. 
Yes ; I was. 

George. 
Eeally ? 

Sylvia. 
Eeally. 

George. 

Then you saw me thah! I played for Eton the 
yeah before last. 

Sylvia. 
Oh! 

George. 

Isn't the world absurdly small ? The ideah of 
your being thah when I was thah ! Both thah ! 

\_They sit talking. 
Servant. 
\^ Announcing.'] Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^ Miss Boyle- 
Chewton, and Mr. Bargus. 

Dudley. 
Oh^ lor ! the political infant ! [ Goes out quickly. 

Lady Gillingham. 
\_In Lord Gillingham's ear,] Here are those 
people — Mary's friends — the strong-minded ladies 
— and Mr. Bargus. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, Rhoda, and Mr. Bargus 

enter, the ladies dressed very plainly in 

sombre silks. 



72 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Gillingham. 
How do you do ? How do you do ? So de- 
lighted ! \Intvoducinrj J^ Lord Gillingham ! \_To 
Mrs. Boyle-Chewto]S".] Is Mary with you ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 

\_Grimly,~\ No. I left Lady Vivash deeply en- 
gaged with Madame Lisette, the dressmaker. 

Lord Gillingham. 
[To Bargus.] Certainly; very interesting — 
very interesting. 

Bargus. 
My lord, it is a great question in a nutshell! 
The position of Woman — 

Lord Gillingham. 
Quite so ; yesterday's paper reported your speech 
very fully. 

[Lady Liptrott re-enters^ and is introduced 
to Mrs. Boyle-Chewton.] 

Lady Gillingham. 
[^To Ehoda.] There is Sylvia. 

[Ehoda goes to Sylvia, ivho rises to meet her, 

Sylvia. 
Oh, I'm so glad ! Has mamma come ? 

Ehoda. 

Ko. 



THE WEAKER SEX 73 

Sylvia. 
How late she is ! Do sit by me for a moment. 
\_They sit side by side. Rising, George 
finds Rhoda next to him instead of 
Sylvia.] 

George. 
Haw ! I think Til just — if you don't mind — 
ni look for my mother ! \_To himself. ~\ What a 
dowdy girl ! 

Lady Liptrott. 
\_To George, as they meet.'] George, look at 
that extraordinarily dressed person ! 

George. 

Yes. IVe just seen anothah ! 

Lady Liptrott. 
Ugh ! how women can so disfigure themselves I 
can't imagine. Let us retain the soft docility and 
gentle exterior which are Heaven's gifts, or let us 
die. Give me some air outside. 

\_They go into the garden. 

Lady Gillingham. 
We mustn't miss Bandinelli, the new violinist. 
[Bargus hohs and hoivs nervously ; Lord 
GiLLiNGHAM gallantly escorts Mrs. 
Boyle-Chewton.] 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtok. 
[T(9 Lord Gillingham.] Why don't you be- 
come one of us ? 



74 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lord Gillingham. 
Madam, I am all yonrs. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n-. 
Join our Union. 

Lord Gillingham. 

Ah, I haven't thought about it. 

Mrs. BOYLE-CHEWTOm 

Why can't women vote ? 

Lord Gillingham. 

They can — they tell the men how to. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Why can't women sit ? 

Lord Gillingham. 
\FuzzledJ\ They can — can't they ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I mean in the House of Commons ! Ehoda ! 

Ehoda. 
Yes, mamma. [Bargus and Lady Gilling- 
ham, Lord Gillingham, and Mrs. Boyle-Chew- 
TON go into the drawing-rooms, Bhoda rises, '\ I 
suppose I must go, but I hate it. 

Sylvia. 
Hate it ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 75 

Rhoda. 

I^m not dressed very nicely ; people stare so. 

Sylvia. 
\Tutting Tier arm around her waist. ~\ Shall I 
come with you ? 

[E-HODA disengages herself^ looking at Syl- 
via's dress and then at her own, 

Ehoda. 

Ohj no ; please don't ! Besides, yoii will want 
to get rid of me directly Mr. Lee arrives. 

Sylvia. 
Mr. Lee ! Ehoda, dear, who told you ? 

Ehoda. 
Nobody. I heard Lady Vivash telling mamma. 

Sylvia. 
\ToJking Ehoda's hand.~\ Oh, I'm glad you 
know; for I do want to talk about him so much. 
He's dark, you know, and is a poet ; they call him 
the ^^Poet of the Prairies," in his own country. 
He's an American, with a soft, low voice. We've 
only seen each other three times and a little bit. 
AVe met in Florence. Do you think it's romantic ? 
You can buy his poems at the railway station. 
They're a shilling. Look! \_Taking from her 
pocket a little volume hound in red silk.~\ There 
they are. I put them in that bright cover. I did 
say he was dark, didn't I ? Oh, aren't I telling 
you all about him ? 



76 THE WEAKER SEX 

Rhoda. 

[^Superciliously.'] You are^ rather. 

Sylvia. 

You're not cross, are you ? I do hope you'll be 
engaged soon. 

Khoda. 

\_Biting her lips,] Do you ? Thank you. Per- 
haps I'm as much engaged as you appear to be. 

Sylvia. 
Oh, I'm so glad ! Tell me who it is — oh, do ! 

Ehoda. 
If I choose, it is Mr. Bargus. 

Sylvia. 

[Horrified,] Mr. Bargus ! Oh, don't ! 

Ehoda. 
[In a rage.] I don't know why you should 
make that face. Mr. Bargus is a member of Par- 
liament. A member of Parliament ranks higher 
than a poet. 

Sylvia. 

Oh, I don't think that's a nice thing to say ; and 
Lady Gillingham has told me that there are mem- 
bers and members. Besides, a man isn't born a 
member of Parliament. Mr. Lee was born a poet. 



THE WEAKER SEX 77 

Ehoda. 
Indeed ! He'd better go back, then ; they're do- 
ing away with hereditary privileges in this country. 

Servant. 
\_Announcing,'] Mr. Lee ! 

Sylvia. 

Oh! 
Ira Lee enters. He is a tall, handsome man of 
about thirty -seven, with a gentle, self-con- 
tained Tnanner, 

Lee. 

[Advancing to Sylvia with a pleasant smile,~\ 
Miss Vivash. 

Sylvia. 
\_Hanging her head.~\ Mr. Lee. 

[Khoda stares at Lee, then turns to go as 
Bargus enters.'] 

Bargus. 

Miss Chev^^ton — Ehoda. Your mamma has dele- 
gated me to fetch you. 

■ [Rhoda stares contemptuously at Lee and 
Sylvia, and, seizing Bargus's arm, goes 
out with him,] 

Lee. 

I didn't reach London until five o'clock this 
afternoon. 



78 THE WEAKER SEX 

Sylvia. 
You must be very weary. 

Lee. 

Of being parted from you — ah, yes. Is Lady 
Vivash here ? 

Sylvia. 
Not yet. 

Lee. 
Will she be very angry ? 

Sylvia. 
I think she will be a little angry if you stay with 
me now. 

Lee. 
Very well, then ; 1^11 go and find Lady Gilling- 
ham. \_Taking her hand.'] Suppose your mother, 
for some reason, dislikes me exceedingly. 

Sylvia. 
Oh, don't, please ! What is there not to like ? 

Lee. 
So much. Why, look at your little hand in 
mine ; it's like a rosebud on an old Delft plate. I 
have lived twice as long as you. 

Sylvia. 

You are a poet ; you always will. Besides, I 
think mamma will like you for being rather old ; 
when she married my papa he was three times her 



THE WEAKER SEX -79 

Lee. 

No — was he ? 

Sylvia. 
\_^Siirprisedr\ Didn't you know ? 

Lee. 

Certainly not. You and I have never had time 
to talk of anything but the future — and the 
weather. 

Sylvia. 

Oh, you're not curious, like women ! You could 
have found out all about mamma — who she was, 
Avhom she married, when she married, when I was 
bor — everything. You ought to be curious about 
me. I have read your poems. 

Lee. 

I don't want to know more than that you are 
sweet and gentle, with a voice that has the mean- 
ing of truth in it. 

Sylvia. 
But my mamma ? 

Lee. 
Oh, 1 have imagined her — a woman with eyes 
like yours, only sadder ; lips like yours, only paler ; 
a voice like yours, only deeper ; a woman whose 
task in life it is to show her child how to grow old 
beautifully ! 

Sylvia. 
Thank you. Now go and find Lady Gillingham. 
\Jl6 raises her hand to his lips tenderly. 



8o THE WEAKER SEX 

Lee. 

Why shouldn't you show me the way to her ? 

Sylyia. 
It is such a little way. 

Lee. 
Isn't there a longer way to Lady Gillingham ? 

Sylyia. 
Oh, yes — through the garden ; only it's much 
longer. 

Lee. 
Take me the much longer way. \_They ivalk a 
step or tivo towards the window / he stops and 
points to the hook she still carries. ~\ May I carry 
that ? 

Sylyia. 
Oh ! \^Handing him the hook, which he opens. ~\ 
Do you think me Yery silly ? 

Lee. 
I think you ought to be ordered a course of 
sounder reading. 

Sylyia. 

Write your name there, please. 

Lee. 
\_Hesitating a moment. ~\ My name ? 

\_He takes a pencil from his pocket and writes 
his name ; then shows it to her.~\ 



THE WEAKER SEX 8i 

Sylvia. 

" Philip Lyster ! '' Who's that ? 

Lee. 

Ira Lee. 

Sylvia. 
Is Philip Lyster your real name ? 

Lee. 

It was real to me once. 

Sylvia. 
I don't seem to know you now at all. [^Half- 
frightened.'] Philip — Lyster. 

Lee. 

Ira Lee or Philip Lyster — the man is the same. 

[_Taking her hand and gently drawing it 
through his arm.] 

Sylvia. 
ITo herself.] Philip Lyster. 

\_They walk to the window ; the moon shines 
in upon them ; he turns to her.] 

Lee, 
You trust me, Sylvia ? 



82 THE WEAKER SEX 

Sylvia. 
Philip. \^Ra{si7ig her eyes and looking into his 
face.'] Yes — 

\_They disappear into the garden. As they 
go Lady Gillingham enters quickly.'] 

Lady Gillingham. 

Sylvia ! Sylvia ! Oh, where is Sylvia ? As long 
as I live I'll never chaperon another unmarried 
girl. \_Looking into the corner.] Oh^ the dreadful 
responsibility ! Sylvia ! 

Servant. 
[_Announcing.] Lady Vivash ! 

[Lady Vivash enters quickly. She is mag- 
nificently dressed ; her cheeks are bright, 
her eyes sparkling, her manner hurried 
and excited.] 

Lady Gillingham. 
Mary! 

Lady Vivash. 
[_Kissing her upon the cheek.] Victoria dear ! 

Lady Gillingham. 

Oh, how beautiful you look ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Beautiful ? Ah, I have never looked so ugly in 
my whole life. 



THE WEAKER SEX 83 

Lady Gillingham. 

Nonsense ! \Laugliing.'\ What will Mrs. Boyle- 
Cliewton say ? What a change ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Change ! Yes, 

Lady Gillingham. 

Since yesterday. 

Lady Vivash. 
What a change since eighteen years ago ! 

Lady Gillingham. 

Mary, what is the matter ? Come with me. 

Lady Vivash. 
Is Sylvia well ? 

Lady Gillingham. 

[^Wonderingly.^ Yes; quite well. 

Lady Vivash. 
Is her American — Mr. — Mr. Lee here ? 

Lady Gillingham. 

No ; not yet, I think. - 

Lady Vivash. 
Lovers are not impatient nowadays. I — I — 
am ready. 

\_Suddenly Lady Vivash supports herself 
on Lady Gillingham's arm for a mo- 
ment, and then sits faintly, ~\ 



84 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Gillingham. 
Mary^ yon are ill ! 

Lady Vivash. 
No ; wait. I — IVe something to say to you. 
I didn't know — that — yon — were acquainted 
with — Mr. Lyster. 

Lady Gillixgham. 

Mr. Lyster ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Philip Lyster. I have never told you, but he 
and I were — friends, years ago. Tell me — how 
does he look ? Stop ; let me guess. Worn — with 
silver hair at the temples — eyes that seem look- 
ing away, back. \_Fointing to the drawing-room, ~\ 
Is he there ? Shall I meet him ? Don't notice 
us. I shall know him ! I shall know him ! I 
shall know him ! 

Lady Gilltxgham. 
Mary, /know no Mr. Lyster. 

Lady Vivash. 

He is to be here — in your house — to-night ! I 
have seen his letter, his own handwriting ! 

Lady Gillingham. 
Then he must be somebody Theodore has in- 
vited without consulting me. Let us go and ask. 
[/SAe goes to the drawing-room. 



THE WEAKER SEX 85 

Lady Vivash. 
Yes. [ Walking straight across to the mirror and 
looking into it earnestly,'] Then and now — then 
and now ! Oh ! 

\_She turns luith a low cry ; then goes out as 
Bargus enters ivith Mrs. Boyle-Chewton 
from the windoiu, followed by Bhoda. j 

Bargus. 
\_Nervously, apart to Ehoda.] Go away for five 
minutes. 

Ehoda. 

[_Apart to him.'] What are you going to do ? 

Bargus. 
Break the news of our engagement to your dear 
mamma. 

Ehoda. 
Not here ! 

Bargus. 
Certainly ! Your dear mamma can't be violently 
angry here. [Ehoda goes out, 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
You say you wish to speak to me, Mr. Bargus. 

Bargus. 

H'm ! Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, what I have on my 

— on my heart might have kept till to-morrow, or 

next week, but it weighs heavily, and I did not 

sleep last night for it; so it is better out. The 



86 THE WEAKER SEX 

matter is in a nutshell, Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. I 
am a bachelor. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
You are wedded to our cause, Mr. Bargus. 

Bargus. 
Politically ; politically, of course a man may be 
wedded to many causes — some members are Mor- 
mons. Politically I am all yours. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
We appreciate you. 

Bargus. 

Thank you, I am sure you do ; but, domestically, 
I am all my own. Now, my dear lady, my senti- 
ments concerning this very popular emotion, about 
which we hear so much, called love, are known to 
you. Love reminds me of the goose at one of our 
little county dinners. There it is at the head of 
the table, rich and tempting, all eyes upon it and 
all mouths watering. Every plate is sent up, and 
the carver, like Cupid, rises to the occasion — and 
what is the result ? Only two out of a dozen get 
a good cut, and before an hour is over those two 
are extremely sorry for it. But, my dear lady, 
marriage — two persons walking soberly through 
life under one umbrella, cheerfully accepting the 
drippings of Providence down the backs of their 
necks — that's an elevating spectacle. 



THE WEAKER SEX 87 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto]S'. 
Eeally, Mr. Bargus^ I don^t see — 

Bargus. 
A moment — it is in a nutshell. Politically, I'm 
already a member of your charming establishment ; 
politically^ my slippers already nestle at your gen- 
ial hearth. There's a great deal of trotting to 
and fro between Eegent's Park and myself. Now, 
Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, — I put it humorously, — why 
shouldn't you spare me the journey to the Park in 
the morning, and//'o??^ the Park in the afternoon ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Mr. Bargus ! 

Bargus. 
Take a moment — take a moment ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
It is so sudden. I have never suspected it. 
All my best friends will accuse me of husband- 
hunting. 

Bargus. 
They can't ; they only say that when the lady 
concerned is not an extremely attractive creature. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
\Loohing away,'] Mr. Bargus ! 

Bargus. 

They can't say that of a charming face and a 
most fascinating manner. 



88 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mks. Botle-Chewto:n". 
\_Tiirning to him tvarmly.'] Be quiet! I am dis- 
appointed in yon. \_Sim]3ering,~\ Yon don't mean 
it! [Lady Liptkott and George enter from the 
garden, and cross the room ; Mrs. Eoyle-Chewton 
immediately speaks loudly, with a change of man^ 
ner.~\ The question of the amelioration of the con- 
dition of woman^ Mr. Bargns^ is one that may well 
profit by the devotion of snch great spirits as your- 
self, not to mention the modest labor — [Lady 
Ltptrott and George go out hy door; Mrs. 
Boyle-Chewton turns again to Bargus.] I have 
wandered from the point. Go on. 

Bargus. 
With regard to Ehoda, I fancy I am not obnox- 
.ious to her. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto]^^. 
Obnoxious, indeed ! 

Bargus. 
The event will brighten her life. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto^'. 
I should think so ! 

Bargus. 
Would you care to call me — Clarence ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Not yet — not yet. 



THE WEAKER SEX 89 

Bakgus. 
Not to oblige me ? 

Mrs. BoYLier-CHEWTOisr. 

Xo, no ! 

Bargus. 
Not to delight me ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
\_Impulsively.~\ Clarence ! [Mr. and Mrs. 
Hawley Hill enter from the drawing-room^ cross 
to the door. Loudly. ~\ What future may be in 
store for woman it is impossible to estimate or 
predict. But one great fact is assured — one great 
fact — [Mr. and Mrs. Hawley Hill disappear.'] 
Clarence, will you speak to Ehoda ? 

Bargus. 

Certainly; to-night. If Mr. Silchester is your 
escort, Ehoda and I might — ahem ! — follow in a 
four-wheeler. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtoint. 
I don't think that's necessary ! 

Bargus. 

No — perhaps not. Beg pardon. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtois". 
And I have still one condition to impose upon 
you. 



90 THE WEAKER SEX 

Bargus. 
A hundred — a Imndred. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewton. 

\_Pointing to the recess. '\ Sha'n't we be less 
liable to interruption in there ? 

Bargus. 
Shall we ? \_To himself.'] I wish she^d let me 
get away to Ehoda! \They sit side hy side. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtojs". 
Clarence, you will not avail yourself of our new 
relationship to distract my thoughts from the 
mighty work of woman's emancipation ? 

Bargus. 
\_Edging aiuay nervously.'] My dear Mrs. Boyle- 
Che wton, certainly not — certainly not. Why 
should I? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
You will not allow your affection for the wife to 
weaken your co-operation with the agitator ? 

Bargus. 

\_Aghast, his eyes staring from his head.] !N"ot 
allow my affec — my aff — ! I beg your pardon ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
You know what I hint at. You won't take me 
away for our honeymoon till Parliament has risen ? 



THE WEAKER SEX 91 

Bargus. 
{Wildly, '\ Mrs. Boyle-Chewton ! 

[Dudley and Rhoda come from the draw- 
ing-room tog ether J\ 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 

Hash ! don't kneel ! \Rising and looking around 
the corner. '\ Dudley ! 

Dudley. 
Ohj are you there, Edith ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

\I)i a childish voice.'] Yes ! 

{She ajyjproaches them^ trying to conceal 
B ARGUS, who sinks hack.] 

Bargus. 
\_To himself, with horror.] I see it! It's all in 
a nutshell. The mother has taken it to herself. 
Oh, I've gone into the wrong lobby ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
{Pointing to the recess.] I think Mr. Bargus is 
there. 

Dudley. 
Is he? {To himself] Oh, yes; there's the in- 
fant. [Bargus advances falteringly.] How d'ye 
do ? [Bargus nods^ hut cannot speak. 



92 THE WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Dudley dear — Ehoda — we three are of one 
family. I — I think Mr. Bargus has something to 
tell you. 

Dudley. 
Indeed ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
Something I hope most interesting to Ehoda — 
my child. 

Ehoda. 
mamma ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Already united to us by ties of sympathy, Mr. 
Bargus asks that he may be allowed to add one 
more link to the chain by becoming — Ehoda^s 
father. 

Ehoda. 
\_Clenching her hands.'] Oh! 

Dudley. 

Good gracious ! 

\_IIe turns and looks at Ehoda in blank 
amazement. ] 

Bargus. 
\_To Mrs. Boyle-Chewton.] He doesn't like it. 
I can see he doesn't like it. Shall ^YQ, for the 
present — that is, temporarily, you know — a year 
or two — yield to him ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 93 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Doesn't like it ! When did I receive sympathy 
from my brother Dudley ? Mr. Bargus, we will 
take the air before returning to the heated rooms. 
Your arm. Ehoda, please follow. 

\_Slie> takes Bargus's arm^ and leads hiin 
across to the luindow ; as he passes Rhoda 
he gives her a piteous look ; his mouth 
moves ivithout any sound^ a.nd he shakes 
his head violently. She turns from him 
contemptuously. The three disappear 
into the garden^ leaving Dudley, with 
his hands in his pockets^ traMsfixed,~\ 

Dudley. 
Good gracious ! The infant has grown out of 
all knowledge. Confound it ! Edith ought to have 
known better. I'll go up to the club and drop 
a line to Bargus. If the babe doesn't listen to 
reason I'll choke him with his own coral. 

A Servant enters, 

Servais^t. 
Here is Mr. Silchester, my lady. 

Dudley. 
Eh? 

Lady Vivas h enters ; her manner is now quite com- 
posed, hut her step is heavy and slow^ 
and her face pale. 



94 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 
Mr. Silchester ! 

Dudley 
Lady Vivash ! 

Lady Viyash. 
Will you find Sylvia for me ? I think she must 
be in the garden. Her young American must pay 
the penalty of being late ; I am going to take his 
sweetheart home. 

Dudley. ^ 

She'll be a little disappointed^ 

Lady Vivash. 

\To her self, '\ She knows her lover will call to- 
morrow ! Disappointed ! I could teach her what 
that means. [^Sinking wearily into a chair, 

Dudley. 
You look very tired. 

Lady Vivash. 

The rooms are hot — or cold — or something. 
Find Sylvia, and let me go. 

[^The Servant has drawn the curtains over 
the ivindow and retired, Dudley is go- 
ing into the garden.~\ 

Lady Vivash. 
\_Calling.'] Dudley! Isn't it curious about — 
no Mr. Lyster ? 



THE WEAKER SEX 95 

Dudley. 
It is quite a mystery. You saw his letter ? 

Lady Vivash. 
I didn't scrutinize it. I supjoose it was liis 
handwriting ? 

Dudley. 
I suppose so. I have it with me. \_Taking 
the letter from his pocket and reading. ~\ " Next 
Wednesday night at a party at Lord Gilling- 
ham's.'' They don't know him. Do you recog- 
nize the writing ? 

Lady Viyash. 

Lend me the letter ; PU glance at it when I get 
home — if I have time. 

Dudley. 

Certainly. [ Giving her the letter ; her hand trem- 
hling as she takes it.'] I shall call at his hotel 
to-morrow. 

Lady Viyash. 

You — you are not looking for Sylvia. 

Dudley. 
I beg your pardon. 

[^ITe goes out through the curtains into the 
garden.] 

Lady Viyash. 
\_Looking at the letter.] The handwriting! 
Know it ! Philip ! you taught it to me too 



96 THE WEAKER SEX 

well years ago! ^^At Lord Gillingliam's/*' He 
must have written that name for some other. I'll 
find out to-morrow — early to-morrow. \_She folds 
the letter, looks around^ then touches her liiJs with 
the jyajper and slips it into her hodice.~\ Where is 
Sylvia ? Why doesn't she come ? I can't endure 
this place now. \_She crosses to the curtains and 
holds them open, looking tq^.'] How bright ! It 
was moonlight when I sent him away from me. 
What a mockery it is to-night ! 

\^She goes through the curtains as Lady 
GiLLiJS^GHAM enters icith Ira Xee. At 
the same nfioment the Seryaxt crosses 
the room.~\ 

Lady Gillingham. 
\_To the Servant.] Lady Vivash has not gone, 
Spencer ? 

Servant. 
I believe not, my lady. \_The Servant goes out. 

Lady Gillixgham. 
\_To Lee.] I am sure Lady Vivash is most 
anxious to see you. She must be in the rooms. 
Wait here ; I'll find her and bring her to you. 

Lee. 

You are very kind to me, Lady Gillingham. 

Lady Gillingham. 
I am afraid I am. Ah, Mr. Lee, lovers are too 
troublesome. 



THE WEAKER SEX 97 

Lee. 

\_Tahing her hand and bending over it.~\ Ah, Lady 
Gillingham, women are too beautiful. [Lady Gil- 
LiNGHAM smiles, and goes out.'] Wait here! wait 
here ! to be approved of — or otherwise. To have 
every gray hair in my head counted, every furrow 
in my face measured, every pound in the bank 
weighed. After all, a man on the right side of 
forty isn't so very old — not so very old. I am 
only old for Sylvia. Ah, if they don't inspect me 
quickly I shall be an octogenarian. [^Ifis foot 
touches a little plain gold bracelet which is lying 
upon the tiger-skin before the fireplace,] What's 
that? [^Picking it up carelessly.'] A' bracelet. 
\_IIe is about to place it on the mantelpiece ivhen he 
catches sight of an inscription upon it.] Great 
Heaven! [_Reading the ins^rip)tion.] ^^ Philip 
Lyster to Mary Norbury. For ever and ever." 

\_The curtains are pushed aside, and Lady 
ViVASH enters, clasping her wrists.] 

Lady Vivash. 
My bracelet ! I have lost my bracelet ! \IIe 
rises; they come face to face.] Mr. Lyster ! 

Lee. 

\_Quietly handing the bracelet.] Are you look- 
ing for this ? I found it on the ground there. 

Lady Vivash. 
\_Taking the bracelet from him, and trying to 
command herself.] Thank you. Mr. Silchester 



98 



THE WEAKER SEX 



mentioned to me that you were thinking of re- 
turning to England after — rather a long absence. 
[ Offering her hand.'] How do you do ? [^He takes 
her hand respectfully, and hows without speaking.'] 
I did ask about you early in the evening when I 
first came, but poor Lord Gillingham was more 
than usually oblivious. He is much changed. We 
are all very, very much changed. 

Lee. 

Naturally. 

Lady Vivash. 

\ Lightly.] I think I should have known you 
anywhere. You wouldn't, of course, have recog- 
nized me if I — if I had not — if — 

Lee. 

Oh, yes — don't mistake me — T should, indeed. 
[_Their eyes meet ; she hangs her head and 
moves a step or tiuo from him.] 

Lady Vivash. 

Old friends ought to feel interested in one an- 
other. Have you prospered abroad ? Are you — 
unmarried ? 

Lee. 

Yes ; I am unmarried. 

Lady Yivash. 

[^Stifling a cry.] Oh ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 99 

Lee. 

Yes, old friends ought to feel interested in one 
another. Pardon me — have you prospered at 
home ? Are you — unmarried ? 

Lady Vivash. 
Don't you know ? 

Lee. 
Know what ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Of my marriage — after — you — left England ? 

Lee. 
No. How soon after I left England ? 

Lady Vivash. 

Philip ! Ah, don't think more hardly of me 
than you can help. I was mad — I didn't know 
what I was doing. Heaven pitied me, and gave 
me strength to do my duty ; but you, a man, can't 
think leniently. I know — I know. 

\^She covers her eyes with her hands. He 
turns from her respectfully. The cur- 
tains move, and Khoda is about to enter ; 
seeing Lady Vivash, she stojps quickly, 
and draws hack, listening, closing the 
curtains carefully. ] 

Lee. 

\_After a pause.'] You have not told me — how 
soon after I left England. 



100 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 
I can't — I daren't. If you had come back it 
would have been different. Why didn't you come 
back ? 

Lee. 
Why ? Ha ! Because I was a foolish, senti- 
mental lad, with an ideal which you had shattered. 
Because I was smarting under the charges of un- 
faithfulness you had brought against me. 

Lady Vivash. 
Ealse charges; they were false, and I knew it. 
I tortured you with doubts and accusations for the 
sake of hearing you tell me how deeply you loved 
me. I quarrelled for the luxury of reconciliation 
— stabbed for the sake of healing ! And you 
couldn't comprehend a woman's nature. 

Lee. 

No ; because I forgot that it was the patrician 
ladies who cried "Hahet^^ loudest at the Koman 
circus. I discovered that you had meant to tor- 
ture me in play, and I left you, from that moment 
never to glance back. I made a new man of 
myself, shunning all chances of hearing of you or 
reading of you, never letting myself even wonder 
about you. I was unmanly, you say ? Well, men 
have their excuses even for that — if women are 
unwomanly. 

Lady Vivash. 

But now — we are older, wiser. 



THE WEAKER SEX loi 

Lee. 

^ow ! Oh, it can't matter to either of us now. 

Lady Vivash. 
Not matter ! Philip^ you don't know me. Lis- 
ten — you must. If you wish it, you shall never 
see me again after to-night — to-night, the cross- 
road of our later life. But hear me before we 
part ! While you were shutting your heart upon 
me in some far-away spot, m?/ heart was bleeding 
for you ; my eyes ever looking, my ears ever lis- 
tening for you ! 

Lee. 

Hush ! 

Lady Vivash. 
I shock you. A married woman ! Yes — but 
one cruelly treated by her husband. A generous 
husband might have taught me to forget ; as it 
was, my love for you was the light I burnt to keep 
me from stumbling. A little child came ; to hush 
it to sleep I cried by its cradle the story of my 
love for you. I prayed for you night and morn- 
ing; perhaps my prayers have kept you out of 
danger ! 

Lee. 
Hush, Mary ! 

Lady Vivash. 
[ Under her breath.'] What have I said ? 



102 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lee. 

\Tahing her hand firmly, ~^ Yon have said 
rightly — this is the cross-road of our lives, and 
we part. Good-by ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh! 

Lee. 
It must be. Because, Mary, both of us are not 
free. 

Lady Vivash. 
Not free ! Not free ! Ah, I haven't told you, 
Philip ! Yes, I was married — wretchedly mar- 
ried ; but now it is past. I am — I am alone 
again ! [_She totters towards him / he recoils, 

Lee. 
Mary ! 

[Lord and Lady Gillingham enter with 
Sylvia, who runs down with a glad cry. 

Lady Vivash.* 
\_Hysterically.'] Sylvia ! 

Sylvia. 
Oh, I am so glad ! 

Lady Vivash. 
Glad ! 

Sylvia. 

That you know each other. 



THE WEAKER SEX 103 

Lady Vivash. 
Know — whom ? 

Sylvia. 
Mamma dear ! \_Pointing to Lee.] Mr. Ira 
Lee ! 

[Lee staggers hack with a cry. Lady Vi- 
vash stands for a moment as if turned 
to stone ; then Dudley^ luho has entered 
from the gar den ^ comes quickly to her^ 
and catches her as she is falling. Ehoda, 
Mks. Boyle-Chewton, and Mil. Bargus 
appear in the window as the curtain 
descends, ~\ 



END OF THE SECOND ACT. 



THE THIED ACT. 

The scene is the library at Mrs. Boyle-Chewton's^ 
as in the First Act, the morning after Lady 
Gillingham's party. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton enters from the garden, with 
a bundle of flowers, which she surveys senti- 
mentally. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
^Flowers ! I feel I have been a little oblivious 
of the beauty of flowers. This morning I seem to 
have learnt their language. That little bunch is 
for me, and that little bunch is for Clarence. 

Sylvia enters in a pretty morning-dress and 
garden-hat. 

Sylvia. 
Good-morning ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
How is mamma ? 

104 



THE WEAKER SEX 105 

Sylvia. 
Oh, almost quite well, and laughing at herself 
for giving way to the heat last night. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

The heat ! Then she hasn't told you of the 
strange — \_Stopping in confusion,'] Ah'ni! 

Sylvia. 
Kot told me — what, dear Mrs. Chewton? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Of — of the strange sensations in her head. \_To 
herself.] I forgot that Rhoda learnt the affair by 
accident, and that I am supposed to know nothing. 

\_She sits, arranging the flowers as Ehoda 
enters.] 

Ehoda. 

\_Sulkily.] Good-morning. 

Sylvia. 

Good-morning. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n". 
\_Childishly.] Good-morning, little one. 

Ehoda. 

\_Angrily to herself] Oh ! when I was a child I 
was treated like a woman; now I seem to have 
suddenly become a baby ! 



io6 THE WEAKER SEX 

\_She sits at the tahle, and takes up a news- 
paper ; Mrs. Boyle-Chewton lutrns a 
tune, at which Rhoda sta^iij^s her foot 
and clutches the paper in a rage, Syl- 
via looks from one to the other, quite 
mystified.'] 

Ehoda. 

Mamma! [To herself] Mamma never could 
sing. 

[Mks. Boyle-Chewton continues humming 
unconsciously. ] 

Sylvia. 
[^Quietly to Ehoda.] Ehoda dear, I am afraid 
I lost my temper last night, and was very unkind. 
Will you forgive me ? 

Ehoda. 

Oh, certainly — of course ! 

Sylvia. 
Thank you. And now I'll say what I ought to 
have said when you told me about Mr. Bargus. I 
congratulate you with all my heart ! 

Ehoda. 
[^Looking towards her mother,] Hush! Be quiet! 

Sylvia. 

[Surprised,] Don't you want me to congratulate 
you? 



THE WEAKER SEX 107 

Ehoda. 
[ Tinder her breath. ] jSTo — no — there's nothing 
to congratulate me upon. I mean — I — I — How 
is Lady Vivash this morning ? 

Sylvia. 
Quite well ; it was only the heat of the room. 

Ehoda. 

The heat of the room ! Then you don't know — 

Mks. Boyle-Chewtojst. 
\Who is now listening,'] Hush, E/hoda! 

Sylyia. 
Don't know — what ? 

Ehoda. 

Oh, nothing! 

Sylvia. 
[_Looking from one to the other.] Oh, I am afraid 
there is something you are keeping from me ! You 
don't think mamma is really ill, do you? You 
would tell me if you thought so ! 

Mrs. BoYLE-CHEWTo:Nr. 

Of course ! Lady Vivash is in most excellent 
health. Why, look at her ! 

[Lady Vivash enters ; her face is pale, but 
otherwise she is quite herself.] 



io8 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Viyash. 

Good-morning. 

Bhoda and Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Good-morning ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
We are so glad you are better, Mary. 

Lady Viyash. 
Thank you. Till last night I had not fainted for 
years. It was very foolish of me. Did you — did 
you feel the heat ? 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
No ; not particularly. 

Lady Viyash. 
Did you, Ehoda ? 

Ehoda. 
[_Witli meaning , eying JjAjyY Viyash.] No. T 
was outside the room in which you fainted — out- 
side, by the window. 

Lady Viyash. 
By the window ? Oh, of course ; it was cooler 
there ! 

Ehoda. 

Yes ; much cooler. 



THE WEAKER SEX 109 

Lady Vivash. 
\To herself, '\ She couldn't have heard! 

Sylvia. 
\_To Lady Vivash.] Mamma, dear, come into 
the garden, and watch for Mr. Lee. 

Lady ^ivash. 
\_Starting.'] Mr. Lee! 

Sylvia. 
He said he would be here very early in the 
morning. He was so anxious about you. Do come ! 

Lady Vivash. 

For a few minutes, d arling ; I must be very busy 
to-day. \_To Mrs. Boyle-Chewton, as Sylvia runs 
up to the window.'] Edith, dear, what with Sylvia's 
return, and — and the party last night — and — 
and one thing and another, I have neglected the 
work which is so near to your heart and mine. 
But my mind shall never wander again, dear. 
Forgive me, and let us make up for lost time 
to-day. 

Mks. Boyle-Chewtojst. 
\_Bashfully.'] Um. I don't feel very much in- 
clined for work to-day. 

Lady Vivash. 
You — not inclined to work ! 



no THE WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n^. 
No. 

Lady Vivash. 

But we have a Finance Committee at four 
o'clock. 

Mrs. BoYLE-CHEWTOm 

Oh, bother the Finance Committee ! 

Lady Vivash. 

Edith ! 

Dudley enters quickly, 

Dudley. 
^ Good-morning. I am a little early, Edith — but 
the fact is — 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton-. 
You are fortunate. By being early you stand a 
chance of meeting Clarence — Mr. Bargus. I'm on 
the lookout for him. 

[^Goingf to the window and looking out. 

Dudley. 

[To himself.'] Oh, if she only knew that the in- 
fant is now on the premises, waiting to tell her of 
the dreadful mistake he has made ! Phew ! and 
there she is — on the lookout for him. How can I 
break it ? [Lady Viyash comes to Dudley's side. 

Lady Vivash. 
\_ Softly to him,] Dudley. 



I 



THE WEAKER SEX iii 

Dudley. 
Are you better ? 

Lady Vivash. 
Quite well. Dudley, Ira Lee — Philip Lyster 
— is coining here this morning. I have thought 
over everything, and I have decided. Dudley, the 
knowledge that he was once my lover must be 
kept from Sylvia. 

Dudley. 
But, my dear Mary — 

Lady Vivash. 
Oh, where would be the good ? It was years 
and years ago, and is done with. The secret is 
quite our own. She loves him dearly ; I know him 
to be a good man. Would you set me, her mother, 
up between them ? Oh, it would be cruel ! 

Dudley. 
But is he sure his old affection is quite extinct, 
with a decent, respectable, and heavy monument 
upon it ? 

Lady Vivash. 
Sure ! My Sylvia is what I was — of course he 
loves her. 

Dudley. 
And you, Mary — Sylvia's mother? 

\_She starts and trembles^ and her eyes droop 
for a moment.'] 



112 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Viyash. 
I love only Sylvia. 

[_She joins Sylvia at the window. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n'. 
\_Looking at the clock.'] Ehoda, didn't Mr. Bar- 
gus say lie would be here at ten o'clock ? 

Dudley. 

[_]S'ervously.'] Oh, my dear Edith, that reminds 
me. Ah — um — Mr. Bargus is here. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton^. 
Here ! and I not informed ! 

Dudley. 
Well, the fact is, my dear Edith, he — he's sitting 
in the Committee Eoom. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

Sitting in the Committee Eoom ! He can't be a 
committee all by himself. 

Dudley. 

No ; he realizes that. He will be all right in a 
minute. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto]s^. 
He is not well! I see it in your expression; 
Mr. Bargus is indisposed ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 1 13 

Dudley. 
Well — yes — that's it. Bargus is a little indis- 
posed. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Oh! 

Dudley. 
He came to me very early this morning, before I 
was up, in fact, to — to make some explanations. 
And having had a bad night he asked me to bring 
him along. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n". 
A bad night ! Oh, dear ! oh, dear ! 

\Slie rings the hell, 
Dudley. 
Stop ! Edith ! I think — I fancy he wishes to 
see you alone. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n". 
Of course he does. But I must present him to 
Mary in his proper light. Mary ! 

Dudley. 

No, no ! No, no ! I've something to tell you ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
I will have no secrets. Mr. Bargus and I have 
nothing to be ashamed of. 

Dudley. 

* 

Yes, you have — I mean, he has. Oh, wait! 
wait! 



114 ^-^^ WEAKER SEX 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
"Wait! I ought to have told Mary the first 
thing this morning. Mary ! 

Dudley. 

Oh, here it goes ! 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
Mary, you will be surprised to hear that Mr. 
Bargus and I are engaged to be married. 

Lady Vivash. 
Edith ! 

Sylvia. 
Ehoda ! 

[E/HODA turns away with a cry of rage, 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
It will take Mr. Bargus's eloquent tongue to tell 
you our reasons for changing our condition. But 
the Cause, dear Mary, the great Cause shall not 
suffer. 

Fetch enters, 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtox. 
Fetch, Mr. Bargus is in the Committee Room — 
beg him to come here. [Fetch goes out, 

Dudley. 
[To himself, ~\ Foor devil ! What a muddle I've 
made of it ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 115 

Lady Vivash. 

My dear Edith ! [Kissing her.~\ I hope you 
will be very happy. 

Sylvia. 

And so do I^ dear Mrs. Chewton, indeed. 
Rhoda has been having such fun with me ! 

Ehoda. 

[Angrihj.'] Oh ! 

Sylvia. 
Yes ; Ehoda told me last night that Mr. Bargus — 

Ehoda. 

\_Furioushj.'\ Miss Vivash ! 

[Ehoda goes out into the garden as Fetch 
enter s,~\ 

Petch. 

Mr. Bargus ! 

[Bargus enters ; he is pale and dejected, with 
a wild look in his eyes, and his appear- 
ance generally disordered, Petch goes 
out.'] 

Bargus. 

Oh, good-morning! 

Lady Vivash. 
Mr. Bargus, I have just heard some news which 
gives me very great pleasure. Let me be among 
the first to congratulate you warmly. 

[She takes his hand. 



ii6 THE WEAKER SEX 

Bargus. 
[Weakly.^ Oh! 

Lady Yiyash. 

Come, Sylvia, dear. 

[Lady Viyash and Sylvia go out hy the 
window. '\ 

Bargus. 
Mr. Silchesterj why have you done this ? 

Dudley. 
I'm desperately sorry — upon my soul I am. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n'. 
\_To Bargus.] They tell me you are not well. 
[Bargus shakes his head helplessly ; she gives him 
the hunch of flowers.'] Those are for you. 

[^He takes them, and sinks into a chair,' she 
regarding him. fondly, ~\ 

Bargus. 
\_Appealingly.'\ Mr. Silchester. 

Dudley. 

My dear Edith, it is of no use to beat about the 
bush any farther. The fact is, Mr. Bargus, who 
mistrusts his own strength of mind, has begged me 
to be his spokesman. Edith, Mr. Bargus continues 
to entertain the highest admiration, the most pro- 
found respect for you, but — but — 



THE WEAKER SEX 117 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

But ! but what, Dudley ? 

Dudley. 
But lie feels it due to himself and to you to say 
that the events of last night were based upon an 
entire misunderstanding. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto]^. 

The events of last night ? 

Dudley. 
The — the proposal of marriage. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

The proposal of marriage ! Mr. Bargus desires 
to withdraw it ? 

Dudley. 

Well — he places himself entirely in your hands. 
In point of fact, dear Edith, Mr. Bargus intended 
to propose for Rhoda; his expressions were am- 
biguous, and he thought he was doing so when he 
wasn't. Phew ! I hope I make myself perfectly 
clear. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewtois^. 

[_After a slifjht j^ause.^ Quite — quite. So far 
as I am concerned the matter has been a momen- 
tary distraction, nothing more. For Ehoda ? Oh, 
yes ; just so. Dudley, thank Mr. Bargus for his 
promptness. These mistakes are better corrected 
at the moment. It — it is an amusing error. 
[^Giving way.~\ Oh, what a fool Bve been! 



}^^ 






Ii8 T//E WEAKER SEX 

\Slie sinks into a chair and sobs violently, 
B ARGUS rises, and Dudley energetically 
waves him towards the door.'] 

Dudley. 
[ Under his breath to Bargus.] Go away 5 don't 
say anything ! Get out ! 

Bargus. 
Oh, I should like to say before I go that Mrs. 
Boyle-Che wton's magnanimous behavior under the 
present distressing circumstances increases my 
admiration for the generosity of her disposition. 
She is a noble woman. 

Dudley. 
Get out ! 

Bargus. 

Many plans of atonement have suggested them- 
selves to me during the lonely hours of an entirely 
sleepless night. One of them was to place all my 
worldly possessions at Mrs. Boyle-Chewton's dis- 
posal for charitable distribution. In such a case I 
should desire the Asylum for Idiots to participate 
largely. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 
[Sobbiny,^ Oh— h— h— h— ! 

Dudley. 
Get out ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 119 

Bargus. 
I am about to act on your suggestion. Good- 
day. Er — um, I desire to say, finally, that at half- 
past ^YQ this morning I arrived at the conclusion 
that I am peculiarly unfitted for public life. To- 
morrow I apply for the stewardship of the Chil- 
tern Hundreds. [Dudley moves towards the bell.'] 
Thank you, I'll let myself out. Mr. Silchester, 
I shall remain in town until Tuesday, in case you 
should desire to pursue the matter to a dreadful 
issue. Good-morning ! \^IIe goes out quietly, 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewto:n^. 
Dudley, take me to my room ! I shall never 
hold up my head again. 

Dudley. 

Yes, you will — to-morrow. • 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton". 
I've been false to my principles ! 

Dudley. 

Well, well, everybody is. You can get some 

new ones. 

i. 

Mrs. Boyle-Chewton. 

There's something wrong with us women ! With 
all our struggles for equality, we are so weak, so 
incomplete ! 



I20 THE WEAKER SEX 

Dudley. 
Of course you are ! You'll never make one boc 
a pair if you polish it till doomsday ! 

\JIe takes her out as Sylvia's voice is hear 
oiitside.~\ 

Sylvia. 

\_Appearing outside window. ~\ Remain there, 
mamma ! I'll fetch your hat and a shawl. \_Run- 
ning across to the door.'] I wish he would mako 
haste I 

l_She runs out at the door as Rhoda enters 
by the windoiv, uiatching her.] 

Ehoda. 
She is not to know, then ! Her little butterfl}? 
wings are not to be fluttered even with the knowl- 
edge that her sweetheart's love is very second- 
hand. Why should everything be so smooth for 
her and so rough for me ? Why shouldn't I tell 
her the truth ? 

Sylvia re-enters^ carrying a hat and shawl. 

Ehoda. 
[^Intercepting her.] Sylvia! 

Sylvia. 
I — I must hurry with these to mamma. 

Ehoda. 
Look here — I want to speak to you. Don't you 
think it is time that you made people regard you 



THE WEAKER SEX 121 

as something better than a doll ? Do you think it 
is just that your mother and your friends should 
keep you ignorant of what concerns you more than 
anybody in the world ? 

Sylvia. 
I am very happy. A great many things I dare 
say I don't know. If people love me or like me 
that's all I want to know. 

Ehoda. 
But don't you want to know everything concern- 
ing the people you love ? Say, for instance, the 
man you love ? 

Sylvia. 
Are you speaking of Mr. Ira Lee ? 

Ehoda. 
Who is Mr. Ira Lee ? 

Sylvia. 
Mr. Philip Lyster. He bears two names, both 
good and honorable, 

Ehoda. 
You do know, then — all about him ! 

Sylvia. 
All about him ! 

Ehoda. 
\_Co7itemptitoushj,'] I see. You are more a wo- 
man than I thought you. Your cloak, Sylvia, is 



122 THE WEAKER SEX 

not so much gossamer as good waterproof. They 
have taught you, I suppose, that you ought to be 
well satisfied with second-hand love — when the 
lover is a poet. 

Sylvia. 
What — what do you mean ? 

Ehoda. 
Your mother is waiting for her hat and shawl. 

Sylvia. 
Ehoda — tell me ! 

Ehoda. 
There's nothing more to tell. You know that 
Mr. Lee Lyster had a sweetheart years ago; you 
know, I presume, who the lady was ; voila tout ! I 
thought you were too confiding or I shouldn't have 
bothered you. 

[Sylvia pvts the hat and shawl upon the 
w r iting-ta h le trem h I InglyJ] 

Sylvia. 
You — you are mistaken. They have told me 
nothing. Ehoda — what is it ? 

Ehoda. 
Oh, I^d rather not tell you ! 

Sylvia. 
You must — now. What is it ? 



THE WEAKER SEX 123 

E/HODA. 

Promise to forget that it came from me if I do 
tell you — never to mention my name. 

Sylvia. 
Yes, yes ; I promise. 

[Lady Vivas h appears at window, 

Sylvia. 
Be quick ! A sweetheart, years ago — who was 
she? 

Ehoda. 

I suppose the past tense applies — she is not 
dead, you know, [Lady Vivas h enters the room. 

Sylvia. 
Par away, then ? 

Ehoda. 
No, indeed. 

Sylvia. 
Not near us — in our own country ? 

Ehoda. 

Quite in our own country — very near us. 

Sylvia. 
Who is she ? 

[Lady Vivash utters a suppressed cry, 

Ehoda. 
I wonder you don't guess — Lady Vivash. 



124 THE WEAKER SEX 

Sylvia. 
Lady Vivash. 
Sylvia. 



Oh, no ! 



Sylvia ! 
Mother ! 



[Lady Yivash clasps Sylvia in her arms ; 
hut the girl slips from her^ and falls on 
her knees at her mother's feet, burying 
her face in her hands,'] 

Lady Vivash. 
\_To Ehoda.] Leave me with my child, please. 
[Rhoda takes a step or two, and moves her lips as 
if trying to speak ; hut her eyes meet Lady Vivash's, 
her head droops, and she goes sloivly and silently 
through the window and out of sight. ~\ Gossamer, 
look at me. [_She stoopjs and gently raises Sylvia.] 
Look at me, dear — your mother. 

Sylvia. 
[/7^ a whisper.] Is it true? 

[Lady Vivash shrinks a little, then stands 
with her face averted, holding Sylvia's 
hand.] 

Lady Vivash. 
Yes. [Sylvia goes hack with a, faint cry ; hut 
Lady Vivash catches her in her arms, and kisses 
her passionately.] Oh, listen, listen, listen! It is 
strange, but nothing else. There is no need for 
you to give even a second thought to a foolish ac- 



THE WEAKER SEX 125 

cident — the last weak thread in the remnant of 
the old past. Sylvia ! Sylvia ! 

[Sylvia sinhs into a chair, staring forward 
vacantly,'] 

Sylvia. 
Mother ! 

[Lady Vivash kneels to Sylvia, taking her 
hands, and clasjoing them tremblingltj.'] 

Lady Vivash. 

my darling, my darling ! Ah, don't look 
like that! There is nothing in this — accident 
that should trouble you. He is yours, heart and 
soul. Years and years ago he may have had a 
jmssing fancy; but the girl he 1 — liked is now 
a rigid, prosaic, strong-minded creature whom some 
men laugh and jeer at. You'll make me believe 
Vyq wronged you! Kiss me — your poor mother 
— your poor mother, who would let you trample 
on her to save you a moment's pain! My darling! 
My darling ! 

Sylvia. 

1 haven't heard the name of your boy-lover till 
now. \_In a dream.'] Philip Ly ster — Philip 
Lyster. 

Lady Vivash. 

You're right — he was only a boy-lover. And 
love to a lad is a toy, nothing more ; when he is 
tired of it he breaks it and flings it away. You 
are loved by a man ! 



126 THE WEAKER SEX 

Sylvia. 
I see the reason he changed his life and his 
name — to try to forget everything — himself — 
his love. 

Lady Vivash. 

And he did forget ! he did forget ! 

Sylvia. 

Yes — butj mother dear, you have not forgotten ! 

Lady Yivash. 
\_Rising aghast. ~\ Sylvia ! 

Sylvia. 
Do you think I don't remember the story of your 
love as you told it to me one day when you were in 
trouble, when you said to me, " Sylvia, a woman's 
first love is her religion.*' Ah, I remember, I re- 
member — so well. 

Lady Vivash. 
\_Sinking into a chair.'] Oh my child ! my child ! 

Sylvia. 
\_Going to Lady Vivash.] Forgive me, mother. 
It is I who have brought trouble upon you, not you 
upon me. \_Kneeling at her feet, Lady Vivash 
sobs bitterly.] Hush, mother dear! mother dear! 
I was selfish ever to think of leaving you. We'll 
never part, dear ; we'll never part. 



■■MIHHI 



THE WEAKER SEX 127 

Lady Vivash. 
[//i agony, ] Oh, what have I done to you ! 
What have I done to you ! What have I done 
to you! 

Dudley enters. 

Lady Vivash. 
[^Advancinr/ to meet Dudley.] Dudley. 

Dudley. 
Here is Philip, Mary 

Lady Vivash. 
[^ Under her hreath.~\ Philip ! 

\_The tiuo tuom.en look at each other. Sylvia 
walks slowly to Lady Vivash^ kisses her^ 
and goes softly out at the windoiv.~\ 

Dudley. 

Mary, Sylvia knows ? 

[Lady Vivash hows her head. 

Lady Vivash. 
\_With an effort,'] Tell him to come to me. 

[Dudley goes to the door and beckons to 
Lee, then goes and stands ontside the 
window, as Lee enters,] 

Lee. 
Lady Vivash. 



128 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lady Vivash. 

She knows. My child knows ! 

Lee. 

Oh! 

Lady Viyash. 

Help me ! Help me ! 

Lee. 
Tell me how. Tell me. 

Lady Viyash. 
You do loYe her truly? \_Entreatingly.'] You 
do, you do ? 

Lee. 
I do. 

Lady Viyash. 
Then by your loYe for that girl who has neYer 
known an unhappy moment until to-day; out of 
pity for the wretched woman who wounded you 
years ago — 

Lee. 
Ah, Mary, hush ! — 

Lady Viyash. 

Yes, out of compassion for me, do your utmost 
to remove the sorrow Avhich has fallen upon my 
child. [Lee makes a despairing gesture.'] Ah, 
don't hesitate. Try, try to comprehend the posi- 
tion in which I am. It is no longer mother and 
daughter with Sylvia and myself ; it is woman and 
woman. Ah, don't hesitate ! 



THE WEAKER SEX 129 

Lee. 

Wliat — what do you bid me do ? 

\_Burying his face in his hands. 

Lady Viyash. 
Convince her that your love for her is the real 
love 'of your life ; declare to her that your old bo}^- 
ish infatuation was nothing but a flame which you 
smothered with a stamp of your foot. You must 
win back her trust and confidence. You must 
make her happy again. You hear me — you must 
— you must, 

Lee. 

And then, Lady Vivash ? What then ? Is 
there no future to reckon for ? Are there no ghosts 
to rise, no seeds of distrust to break their husks, 
spring up, and bear fruit ? What of the future ? 

Lady Viyash. 

The future ! Listen, Philip Lyster. I love my 
child. She is all I live for now. But if I could 
know she was happy, I could be content to live 
out the rest of my life away from her; never to 
disturb her ; never to break in upon her peace ; 
never by sight of my face to make her think. 

Lee. 

Lady Vivash ! 

Lady Viyash. 
You understand what I mean ? If you can 
make her happy, I will go away from you both. 



130 THE WEAKER SEX 

The man she loves is more to a girl than the 
mother who loves her, and I will pay a mother's 
penalty ; a little heavier than most mothers pay — 
but — I will pay it to the full. [^Faintly clutching 
at the hack of a chair ^ then recovering herself and 
holding out her hand to Lee.] Philip Lyster, 
won't you help me ? 

Lee. 
\_Looking at her distractedly and irresolutely^ 
then taking her hand.'] Yes, I will help you. 

Lady Vivash. 
Ah, you will do your utmost ? 

Lee. 
I will do my utmost. I promise. 

Lady Vivash. 

Oh, I thank you ! 

Lee. 
Hush! hush! 

Lady Vivash. 
Yes, I thank you. I bless you. May I go and 
find Sylvia now ? 

Lee. 

Yes, yes. 

Lady Vivash. 

Wait, then, wait. \_Going slowly to the window, 
and catching at the curtain, she sees the bracelet on 



THE WEAKER SEX 131 

her wrist ; then turning to look at Lee, who stands 
staring forward, she removes the bracelet , and 
creeps towards him.'] The bracelet. 

[Lee looks up with a start, and takes the 
bracelet which she hands him, with 
averted face, then she goes out.] 

Lee. 
\_Seeing Dudley outside.] Dudley! [Dudley 
ap2^roaches.] Give me your hand. \_They grip 
hands.] Old friend, say good-by to me. 

Dudley. 
Philip ! What are you going to do ? 

Lee. 
My utmost to heal the sorrow I have brought 
upon Mary and Sylvia. I have come into their 
lives to their cost — to my cost I will go out of 
their lives to-day as if I had died at this very 
hour. 

Dudley. 
Does Mary know ? 

Lee. 
]N"ot yet. Tell her, Dudley, that I have kept 
my promise — that I have done my utmost. 

Dudley. 
Philip, is there no way but this ? 



132 THE WEAKER SEX 

Lee. 

None. You know it, Dudley. Once my shadow 
is taken from the lives of these two women, there 
will be light again. I pray to time to do the rest. 
Time will bless some worthier man than I with 
Sylvia's sweet companionship, and then the first 
laugh from Sylvia's lips will wake Mary from her 
long dream. You will be near them still, Dudley, 
— always ? 

Dudley. 
Always. I am too old a watch-dog to know any 
voice but Mary's. \_They shake hands, 

Lee. 

God bless you ! This is the only way. 

\_Bows his head on Dudley's shoulder, 

Dudley. 

They are coming. 

Lee. 

\_With emotion.'] Let me see them once more 
together. Let me see them when they know that 
I have gone. Tell them. 

[Lee goes out at one window^ as Lady Yi- 
VASH and Sylvia enter at another, with- 
out seeing him,~\ 

Lady Yivash. 
\_Quietly to Dudley.] Dudley, Philip has some- 
thing to tell Sylvia which I want her to hear from 



THE WEAKER SEX 133 

his lips alone. Where is he ? Let us find him. 
Come. \^Going towards the door, 

Dudley. 
[ Stopping her. ] Mary — Sylvia. 

Lady Vivash. 

Dudley ! 

Dudley. 

I have some news to break to you. We shall 
see Philip no more. He has gone. [Lady 
Vivash and Sylvia meet each other^s eyes with a 
fixed look.'] Mary, Philip asks me to tell you that 
he has kept his promise. He has done his utmost. 

[Lady Vivash goes to Sylvia, a7id they 
tenderly embrace. Dudley goes to the 
window and looks out; then Lee re- 
enters silently^ looks at the two women, 
grips Dudley's hand, and disappears.] 



THE end. 



A.W. PINERO'S PLAYS. 



'yHE following plays of Mr. ARTHUR W.PINERO are 
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only, on the terms quoted below : — 

DANDY DICK. Three Acts. 

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Nine males » eight females, 

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Six males, four females, 

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